Noxious Fire Spews Flames in Tenderloin
Smoke noxious smoke spewed into the air Friday afternoon in San Francisco.
View GalleryNoxious Fire Spews Flames in Tenderloin
An underground fire burned for hours Friday in San Francisco's Tenderloin neighborhood, sending clouds of black smoke into the air. Noxious smoke spewed into the air Friday afternoon in San Francisco. Watch the flames shooting out of the manhole. A group of people gathered a block away, at Van Ness Avenue and O'Farrell Street, watched the flames in awe, exclaiming "Oh my God!" Fire crews did not immediately know what if any toxins were in the air when they first arrived, because they rely on PG&E on that information. This would be a frightening scene to come upon on TGIF. Police used megaphones to tell people in the area to get out. This is how thick the smoke got at one point.. causing our photographer to back off. Police closed down a four block area surrounding Polk and O'Farrell Flames shot up two stories high and came out of the man hole cover in a upward tornado spin. Thousands of people lost power because of the fire. The smoke kept changing directions depending on the wind, causing media and emergency crews scrambling. The first power outage report came in at 11:39 a.m. to PG&E Fire crews had hoses ready but never used any water to put out the flames.
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