smoke, most is drifting up higher. we're seeing a lot of degree brie dropping on the -- debrie on the crowd. we're able to put up two live pictures. if our viewers can look at the orange flame on the left-hand side picture. we've watched parts of the building collapse. at this point have you seen anyone moving people away from where you are, if there's concerns the building may collapse further. >> so far no. a number of people about a block 1/2 from where i am south of the fire trucks who are standing outside watching this going on. it's a difficult thing to do. a lot of debris coming down. quite a bit of smoke. so far it casual. no panic, i haven't seen emergency crews pushing people back, the sense is if there's a

collapse to make it safe for people. but you don't know. we're getting so much debris, you can see it in the sky and some of that is hot. some is burning and drifting down the block here. hot enough to set things on fire. i'm wondering how much of a concern this building potentially collapsing. when you buildings across the street, that must be a big concern at this point. this fire continues to roar out of control. >> frank, you look at that structure how much of that green wall has burped away -- burned away. that would be a good question, one that maybe can be answered by firefighters closer up. if though believe there's enough scaffolding, metal to keep the rest of the building from collapsing. there's a lot of fuel and a lot

is going up in the sky. >> you have been covering san francisco for us for years. >> when was the last time you saw something like this. i can't remember something like this happening for several years. a few weeks ago that fire at the taxi auto body shop that sent up a lot of smoke. that was a building that was cement but enough fuel to burn. that's the most recent example. this fire is something else. just the amount of smoke and the voros tee of the fire -- veracity of the fire. really gives cause for concern. >> the highly populated neighborhood. the fine that you referenced at the taxi building not the same

situation. the good news here if this was in older parts of san francisco where there's older wooden buildings we would be worried. we'll talk to you again in a couple minutes. you have a map that illustrates where this fire is. >> i've brought in a special 3- d map. here's the ball park right. i'm assuming, here's the parking lot, right. the fire, it in this area. >> it looked like that horseshoe building in the middle by the edge of the parking lot. over here. >> just on the right.

i'm trying to give you an idea of the lay of the land. close to that area. >> i don't have my telestrator function up at this point. >> you did see a lot of construction, i'll back it out and see what it looks like in the scope of the city. >> it looks like an older map. this is fourth and china basin. based on the pictures there's more development than what we're seeing. the horse shoe building it is in that area. >> this is two or three years old. you get the idea. that's the old industrial part of san francisco that's set up for mixed use. people living there. shopping facilities. next to the ballpark. the other thing to think about, you have the freeway, 280 and 80. a lot of folks are watching the

fire and creating probably creating traffic issues when you get a plume like that. >> and this is almost a house keeping matter. we're getting information from sf muni there's 30s. a shuttle will provide service. 511 is a good option to help you get along with things are changing. the k and t line are under a that i, a shuttle will provide service. as we're giving you a live look. these two pictures give you a good illustration of what you can see from miles away across the bay. >> the smoke plume, it's not healthy to breathe any particulate matter from any fire. the plume, visually looks like it has come down on the right.

the up shot is, it's going vertical, it's not laying down. windy in the east bay hills. this wind, this type of wind is not that abreathive in this area. they are get, action aggressive. the offshore winds are blowing in the hills. typically that plume would be laying down and there would be particulate. this thing has vertical rise. it's going straight up. that's good news in terms air quality. >> it looks like they are making progress. that smoke is not nearly as thick. initially the right side of the building was completely engulfed. now they are making progress on the right side of the building. the left side of the building still completely engulfed in flames. it appears they are making

progress. the smoke not as thick as it was a few minutes ago and not as black. >> in building materials, this may have to burn down, you're not going to send firefighters into a noncoded building. this area on the right where the fire is out. when they build building they are using steel. the structure is still standing, probably burned out the guts the materials that burn inside but the outside is likely nonflammable. >> the left-hand side picture and the left side of that picture itself, look with me, how much has collapsed. the guts the building fallen inside, almost like an empty shell. we see the bright green on the outside, we could see a large structure, now you see the raggedy remains on the top. the fire to the left, if you

had a campfire, you know what that looks like. anybody anything in that pit is gone. the cores are burping out. the structure on the outside is nonflammable and that's what we're seeing. it is burning itself down. >> eric is in the newsroom, working to get information to proms under construction, that neighborhood and anything on this building. >> since the area is greatry restricted so crews can get in there, we can't walk up and look at the location of the project, looking at the areaians -- aerials at the projects under way it appears the construction project that is burning is mb 360, a 4-acre apartment development expects throw 60 rental unites a high

end project. the price tag, $227 million project that was underway. again to build mostly residential units with retail on the bottom. that's something we are trying to reach out to confirm. by eyeballing the aerials and looking at the projects underway that's the most likely candidate. i can tell you with the photographers on the ground we've seen the fire coming close to other projects and other buildings in the area. we know there's the mercy housing development that's going on there also on fourth street. when we saw a ground shot the flames were behind that construction project. it's a tightly concentrated area. it could be this mb 360 development that's underway. and now this devastating fire.

>> we'll let you try to get more information. from what you are describing that would be similar to what's there. a lot of res additional on top with retail on the bottom. david steve especially son is reporting some of the scaffolding came down on a fire truck. he is signing so much have scaffolding collapses and crews are worrying about elevator shafts buckling. we have a fire rick this on a building such as this that has been burning for an hour and 20 minutes at this point. what's left and could that fall down upon itself. >> it not code yet. the firefighters have no idea. they are trained to go into a building that has codes. they can walk on the roof if they need to. this has none of that.

>> i just spoke to the tom o'connor head of the firefighters union. he's on the north side of the fire, he's not working but is on the scene. he told me not long ago they had an incident a piece of structure fell on truck eight and firefighters had to back away from that truck because of that collapse. the situation has lessened. >> okay, looks like we lost david, can you hear us david? >> all right. again, david was reporting a piece of scaffolding came down on truck number 8. that's a concern that this building could collapse on neighboring building or itself. >> can you hear me. go ahead. >> a patrols. >> for that. taking to tom o'connor who's on- site. they had a piece of scaffolding

fall on truck eight. they have been able to get back to work with it. you can see how the fire is exposing the skeleton of the building. there are pieces of the scaffolding the skeleton of the building collapsing. i'm told there's a bit of other collapse to north side of the building. they are concerned about an elevator shaft buckling. in his opinion they will lose the building. we'll stay here see what happens. big bits of ash rain down on the scene. that's not detouring people from sticking around. >> when you were talking with your source, any talk of pulling crews back for their own safety or the firefighters, it still on. >> not any talk of pulling back in general in terms of the

numbers. when you have an incident when your truck is affected you have to get the people back. they continue to pour water on this, but there's concern that the worse could happen this building could collapse and they have to be ready to get back if that happens. he's on the north side of the fire further north on fourth street. that's where he's seeing a lot of the damage, even from where we are south on fourth street, the flames are not concentrated on our side. they are further toward downtown san francisco. he said that they evacuated neighboring buildings on either side of this because of safety concerns. but he said that's not as much of a factor at this hour. the opposite collapse is the bigger concern. >> in that area we have talked about how it being developed and people are living down

there. do a lot of people live there. i know there's a lot of construction, are there a lot of people living in that area. >> not so much residents. a lot are people that work at the ucsf campus that stay late to work out and have projects that keep them here into the evening. i wouldn't necessarily classify the people here as residents. we're seeing people drive into the neighborhood from south of this area. construction workers coming from other projects along this campus taking a look at their day comes to an end. have not run into anyone who couldn't get into their residence. >> let's take a moment to bring people up to speed on what we're looking at. a building under construction that's been burning for an hour and 15 minutes. it's at 4th and china basin,

just a couple blocks from the parking lot the end of the parking lot of at&t park. from what we understand this may be an apartment complex that was being built that would have 360 rental units. a 4-acre project, $227 million project to be exact with retail on the bottom. the fire is completely out of control, gone to at least four alarms. perhaps more than 100 firefighters and a lot of an rat as -- apparatus. they have made progress. you can't see it from this picture on the left, but some of the building it appears they have knocked town some of the flames, not in this area. >> did you see that piece i was watching while you were talking. a big rail of steel just fell. i'm assuming it metal. that's an indication how hot

this fire is burning. you see that cross-section, i wish i could point to it. that cross-section, a big piece fell away. like i say, they don't make these out of wood. that's likely. >> as david was saying they are signed themselves to the fact they will lose the building. they are trying to protect the buildings across the street. there's no buildings that are right next to this building. only buildings across the street. from what we understand no other buildings have caught fire. look at the smoke plume there, it's lighter than it was at one point. at one point it was jet black and the screen was filled with smoke. that white smoke or lighter colored smoke is a goodcation on the picture on the left there's parts of the building it looks like they got the fire out. they have a big job on their

hands. >> we've been watching the fire, it started an hour and a half ago. it looks as though things are changing. how long has the threat of unhealthy air, how long us the that hang around? >> this will smolder. we talked about the air quality. we don't know what's in the building. anytime you breathe small par 1, 2, 3 inning lat it's not -- particulate it not good for your lung. anyone in a few blocks is being bugged. if you don't have breathing issues it would bug you. as we go into the evening hours the smoke will linger. this is a hot fire. the main plume has moved. 40 minutes ago that stuff was nasty. that huge black plume triple the size. >> at least it was going straight up. you can see the plume there.

the wind direction is good. it is unusual. see that gap in the hill, often time the winds would come from that direction it would blow 20, 30 miles an hour. out of the northwest. that's not the wind direction today. we have a wind advisory tonight but it the opposite way which is working out okay. this fire was in the east bay hills or antioch it would be a big issue with wind. where this building is located is working out well for firefighters and people in the neighborhood. >> and there you have a great example of how much they have been able to my naked eye they have controlled the fire on the right side of the building. the left side completely engulfed. >> i'm not sure they controlled anything. i think they burped out -- burned out. >> when a fire gets that hot, that one on the left.

i think it burning all that it has to burn. >> it important to note. we're an hour and a half into the fire. no reports of anyone injured and there's more than 100 firefighters on the scene. some david has been talking with. if there had been anything happening to the fire crews david would be told about it being a reporter on the street. there's been no injuries reported and going back to the lieutenent with the fire department we talked to an hour ago. her number 1 concern is the safety of the fire crews and the people in the immediate area. >> from what we can gather they have been able to protect the neighboring buildings. we haven't heard of any injuries, we've heard of scaffolding falling on a fire truck. for the most part we have not heard of injury it's and it

does not appear the fire has spread beyond the massive building. >> you see the firefighters with the hook and lad overs, that's exactly why they use them and it's perfect for situations, they don't have to enter the building. they can get on the ladders, get 50 feet off the ground. see a big ladder here. a lot of power coming out of the hose. that's what they are up against and it of the they have the -- fortunate they have the ladders. >> when that mall was under construction and just completely went up like that. >> it was overnight. they had a fire and the whole thing was gone the next day. i was asleep when it happened. i couldn't believe it was leveled. it was the same idea.

they didn't have the fire suppress end equipment in place and that's what happens. >> think you how different if this was a building with people living in it. then you're talking of hundreds of lives at risk. evacuation effort underway. the -- it wouldn't happen the way they code things, you don't see fires like this since the mgm in vegas the hotel fire and they changed the fire codes is. you're right. you can imagine a situation like this with people involved. >> you have a good illustration of the smoke changing color. the white smoke when it's a house fire, apartment fire, building fire. white smoke is good, black smoke is not good. the smoke is getting lighter. they are making progress.

it's clear they have a lot of work ahead of them as that fire continues to burn out of control. we talked how that area, china basin has changed in the past 10 or 15 years, david stevenson has been reporting on the ground. you're talking to people that live near the area. >> i'm close to the scene. i'm standing with sean garcia and david moyes. they live across from the scene. tell me what happened this afternoon. >> looks like we lost david stevenson. if we can go back to the picture of the smoke. there's something interesting here. there's smoke burning, there's smoke coming from a couple blocks away from this fire. i hope that's not another fire. i can't quite tell.

maybe we will get back to the pictures. we saw news chopper 2 panning over there. we'll try to get information. it struck me, it was odd. there it is. you see the smoke coming, i don't know if that's normal smoke or if that's a separate fire. >> you're talking about the larger picture on the left on the right-hand side. >> wow, we're getting information into our ears that people are calling from the building below, i'm assuming what we're showing reports of fires being sparked from ash from the main fire from the building under construction. you see a couple people, don't look like firefighters. using fire extinquishers to try to put out hot pieces of ash. >> let's talk about could this happen.

>> it could. >> you're not up in pacific heights or where you have the old victorian building. this building they are fighting something that ignited. these have code. they have walls that don't burn. it's a different situation. it's a possibility. in this area with new construction, this looks like it's finished. h advantage units on the -- hvac units on the roof. >> they have that out. that's a concern here, that you get embers blowing from one fire and starting another fire. >> if you are in the district with the old homes, they are wood and this would be another animal if the wind was different or this fire was closer. this area is new, it been industrial and so you don't have the old pillingion. >> we were told while we were

listening to you a large session of this building fell. that's one of the concerns the building could collapse and it appears that's happening. >> david, are you there. >> hopefully you can hear me now. i'm with sean garcia and david moyes who lives in the apartment building across the street from the fire you're seeing. tell me what happened this afternoon. >> we apologize for the bad luck. david is trying to get us to speak with the people who live there. the building where the two men are from are across the street. and that's a building thats across the street from the building that's on fire. at this point if we can focus the picture. as we've been watching it and sharing the live pictures. we're seeing pieces of this building crumble. when we started the live coverage we were able to count

the window panes. i counted five window panes across on the stop. at this point the building is engulfed. look at that. it could fall at any moment. there's nothing holding it up. >> really, look at that. we were looking at it and that chunk that's gone. this is not wood. this is steel or what have you and that's how hot the fire is. it pulling the walls down. they are melting. >> i bet we would see more of that go. if we're able to. if we can have someone pull pictures from an hour ago to show where the fire was, what the structure looked like then, put those side by side that would tell the story of the progress of the fire. if you could call it that.

we've watched this multimillion dollars building bush to the ground. it goes to what we've been saying. the firefighters have just gotten out of the way of this. it was a hot big fire they had to let it go. when you let it go the temperature it achieves are enough the melt or compromise the steel. >> we should char five the pictures on the left that's tape from maybe a half our or 45 minutes ago. the picture on the right is the live picture, the building just continues to burn, pieces of it now are starting to collapse. it's a massive building, a four actioner project that would have 400 or so residents for people to move into. a multimillion dollars project under construction, no buildings from what we at least have seen have spread, the fire

has not spread to neighboring buildings other than the one. now we have the collapse, let's see what we can see here. your seeing pieces crumble down. a large section falling over and imploding on itself. >> it fell in. the scale of this. it big. look at the buildings. the scale of that wall was huge. again,. >> that was several floors. >> several floors and must have run 200 feet. these are -- the scale is off because we're looking from a distance. >> it fell inward. the building seems to be falling into itself. there's buildings across the street and that would be the concern, that the building could collapse. >> there it goes. you're right. the picture is somewhat deceiving it is bigger piece

than it looks. >> those are huge walls. the skeleton of a once large, i don't know how many square feet. >> a 4-acre development. 360 rental unites. it's a big building. >> let's bring in another crew. ann rube up is in the area. are you able to join us? >> yes i am. i'm actually not too far from where david steve own son is, about a block away and half a block over. we're by the smith cardiovascular research building. it appears now that the roof of that building has caught on fire. there was a person who rap up to firefighters alerting them. they were aware. they are moving fire trucks personnel as we speak. i'm watching as firefighters are hooking up a hose to a

hydrant. there's a sense of urgency in this area, and also, a crowd of on lookers have moved because across the street from this building is another apartment building this one occupied. there's another flurry of activity where they are trying to work to put this fire out. this is a new looking building. very modern, and there are flashing lights from the smoke detectors going off. >> are you seeing any flying embers where you are? >> there's lots of embers. so where i was standing amoment ago,