San Francisco gas explosion causes fire that burns several buildings

SAN FRANCISCO – A gas explosion in a San Francisco neighborhood fired on Wednesday and set fire to five buildings, Panicking residents and workers fleeing around

Utilities fired about three hours after private construction workers cut off a natural gas line, igniting the flames, said Joanne Hayes -White, Fire Chief of San Francisco. Authorities initially reported that five workers were missing, but the entire construction team was found safe and no other casualties were reported.

Authorities evacuated several nearby buildings, including a medical center and apartment buildings, Hayes-White said. The vehicles in a busy street were diverted by the authorities who surrounded the busy residential and commercial area.

The fire damaged a building housing the Hong Kong Lounge II sum restaurant frequented by students from the University of San Francisco and tourists. The restaurant has made many lists of "best of".

Caroline Gasparini, 24, lives close to the fire and said that she and her roommate were in their living room when the windows started to slam. She looked up to see the flames reflected in the glass.

"We went into crisis mode," said Gasparini. "We grabbed our shoes, our laptops, our passports and we left."

Gasparini said he saw flaming restaurant employees running by the back door and people fleeing the block.

Nick Jalali, 28, was cooking at home when electricity was cut off.

"We did not hear anything," he said. "We just felt the tremor and the next thing we knew was that people were knocking on the door to tell people that it was time to start evacuating."

Firefighters fight the spread of fire as Pacific Gas & Electric's teams attempt to shut it down.

"It's complicated," Hayes-White said about stopping the gas in the damaged pipe. Although she later acknowledged that "as fire chief and resident, yes, I would have liked to see that toned down."

The fire began around 1:20 pm, apparently by crews working on fiber optic cables, Hayes-White said.

Joseph Feusi lives four blocks away and says he was awakened by what appeared to be a jet engine. Feusi, who works at night and sleeps in the afternoons, said that he could see the flames that dominate his home.

"I think the eight guys are really lucky not to have been shattered," he said.

PG & E spokesman Paul Doherty pointed out that workers who cut the gas line are not affiliated with a utility company, which is undergoing a thorough review of its pipelines. A PG & E pipeline exploded under a neighborhood south of San Francisco in 2010, killing eight people and destroying a neighborhood on the outskirts of San Bruno.

A US judge sentenced the country's largest utility to a $ 3 million fine to properly maintain the pipeline. California regulators have also fined PG & E $ 1.6 billion, which is still under the supervision of a federal judge

Associated Press Editors Paul Elias and Olga R. Rodriguez, of San Francisco, contributed to the writing of this report.