abc 7 news reporter heather ishimaru has been covering the story all day. >> reporter: firefighters started out attacking flames on the roof but quickly decided it was too dangerous to stay there. >> when they got up on the roof they saw the flexibility in the roof of what the color of the smoke it and whether or not there is flames breaching the roof and they just let the incident commander know. >> reporter: with crowds of spectators just across the street, chunks of the roof facade came crashing down on to the sidewalk. >> the facade has given way. the incident commander did a very good job in assessing the vulnerability of the structure and establish what we call a collapse zone to make sure that there was no one in front of the building and sure enough part tion of the facade did give way. >>> the wind blew toxic smoke across the bay. firefighters worked to drown and surround the fire from outside the building. they used huge volumes of water from all available sources. including drafting water from the bay. the port says the vacant offenses in pier 29 were being emptied for use by the

heather ishimaru joins us live at the >> reporter: we are at the corner of 7th and broadway. police aren't sure what it is they are dealing without here. i was suspicious enough and odd enough that they decided -- it was suspicious enough and odd enough that they decided to call in the bomb squad. they describe it as alarm thermos round maybe 10 x 4 with wires and duct tape and a cell phone attached. it was found at 9:00 this morning by an employee at the salvation army which is down the street on 7th. it was found in an area where people don't normally leave or crop-off donations. all those thins -- drop-off donations. all those things together prompted the police department to take the precaution in the face-this unknown, to evacuate the streets and they called in the alameda county sherry's bomb squad. they are the ones with the big blue truck and the masks with maybe a camera on to they are going to come in and assess this device and decide what they may or may not be dealing with and then decide how to proceed many in the meantime, the evacuation is between 6th street an

heather ishimaru joins us live at the >> reporter: we are at the corner of 7th and broadway. police aren't sure what it is they are dealing without here. i was suspicious enough and odd enough that they decided -- it was suspicious enough and odd enough that they decided to call in the bomb squad. they describe it as alarm thermos round maybe 10 x 4 with wires and duct tape and a cell phone attached. it was found at 9:00 this morning by an employee at the salvation army which is down the street on 7th. it was found in an area where people don't normally leave or crop-off donations. all those thins -- drop-off donations. all those things together prompted the police department to take the precaution in the face-this unknown, to evacuate the streets and they called in the alameda county sherry's bomb squad. they are the ones with the big blue truck and the masks with maybe a camera on to they are going to come in and assess this device and decide what they may or may not be dealing with and then decide how to proceed many in the meantime, the evacuation is between 6th street an

heather ishimaru, abc7 news. >>> thanks for that first look. meantime park matthews is live at jack london ferry station. how is it going there? >> >> reporter: a long line that stretched from the loading dock that line is gone there is still a back-up. the ferry service added a company of more boats this morning to their usual service. but -- they are running them every 20 minutes, but while they've got a lot people at the water there's a back-up at the alameda ferry terminal you see boats stacked up in the estuary waiting for dock space in alameda where they are supposed to stop before they go to the san francisco ferry terminal. we talked with one of the skipper. then you will hear from passengers. >> just really crowded, it has taken longer to unload people and led 'em up than we normally do lots of traffic in the estuary today, shipping traffic slows us down we have to slow down when there's a ship or tugboats. >> i parked, took bart in tried to get a bus couldn't. then just walked here. >> taken me an hour and may have to get here. it has

heather ishimaru, abc7 news. >>> thanks for that first look. meantime park matthews is live at jack london ferry station. how is it going there? >> >> reporter: a long line that stretched from the loading dock that line is gone there is still a back-up. the ferry service added a company of more boats this morning to their usual service. but -- they are running them every 20 minutes, but while they've got a lot people at the water there's a back-up at the alameda ferry terminal you see boats stacked up in the estuary waiting for dock space in alameda where they are supposed to stop before they go to the san francisco ferry terminal. we talked with one of the skipper. then you will hear from passengers. >> just really crowded, it has taken longer to unload people and led 'em up than we normally do lots of traffic in the estuary today, shipping traffic slows us down we have to slow down when there's a ship or tugboats. >> i parked, took bart in tried to get a bus couldn't. then just walked here. >> taken me an hour and may have to get here. it has

here is heather ishimaru. >> reporter: state transportation official was pulled over when a police officer thought she was texting at a red light. instead she was checking to make sure that her smart phone was charging. that is illegal too but let her out of ticket if she agreed to post her experience on facebook where she has 1300 friends. the officer suspected she isn't the only one that realize that checking for charging may as well be texting. >> did you realize that? >> no, i didn't know that. >> do you understand what legal and what is not? >> not necessarily. >> the purpose using your phone by making a hands free call. >> reporter: they say in 2010 there was more 3,000 distracted driving fatalities nationwide. >> i have seen people crash while on their phone right in front of me. >> we also learned you have to have one ear free. >> let's say, i got my ear bugs in. >> it's illegal. you can't have two in. only one at a time. because you can't cover both ears. >> they work from his car. he only learned about proper placement of his cellphone holder after being pulled over by the chp fo

here's abc7 news reporter heather ishimaru. >> the state transportation commission official lucy dunn pulled over in southern california when a police officer was thought she was texting at a red light. instead she was checking to make sure her smartphone is charging. she explained that's illegal too but let her out of the ticket if she would agree to post her experience and the lesson learned on facebook where she has 1300 friends. the officer suspected dunn isn't the only one who didn't realize in the eyes of the law, checking for charging may as well be texting. >>> did you realize that? >> no, i didn't. >> no, i didn't know that. >> do you feel like you understand what it legal and what is not? >> not necessarily. >> the only purpose that you can use your phone while driving is for making a handsfree call. >> the u.s. department of transportation says in 2010 there were more than 3,000 distracted driving fatalities nationwide. 416,000 injuries. >> i have actually seen people crash while on their phone right in front of me while i'm stopped beside them. >> the law might say handsfr

here's abc7 news reporter heather ishimaru. >> the state transportation commission official lucy dunn pulled over in southern california when a police officer thought she was texting at a red light. instead she was checking to make sure her smartphone is charging. he explained that's illegal too, but let her out of the ticket if she would agree to post her experience and the lesson learned on facebook where she has 1300 friends. the officer suspected dunn isn't the only one who didn't realize that, in the eyes of the law, checking for charging may as well be texting. >>> did you realize that? >> no, i didn't. >> no, i didn't know that. >> do you feel like you understand what it legal and what is not? >> not necessarily. >> the only purpose that you can use your phone while driving is for making a handsfree call. >> the u.s. department of transportation says in 2010 there were more than 3,000 distracted driving fatalities nationwide. 416,000 injuries. >> i have actually seen people crash while on their phone right in front of me while i'm stopped beside them. >> the law might say hands