A gas explosion in a San Francisco neighbourhood shot flames into the air for hours and burned five buildings, sending panicked residents and workers fleeing into the streets.
Five workers were feared missing after the explosion but have since been found safe. Photo: AP
It took utility crews more than two hours to put out the fire after private construction workers cut a natural gas line, igniting the towering flames, Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White said. Authorities initially said five workers were missing, but the entire construction crew was found safe, and no other injuries were reported.
Firefighters tackled the blaze as the utility tried to cut off the supply of gas. Photo: AP
Officials evacuated several nearby buildings, including a medical clinic and apartment buildings, Ms Hayes-White said. Vehicles on a busy street got rerouted as authorities cordoned off the bustling retail and residential neighbourhood.
The fire damaged a building housing Hong Kong Lounge II, a popular dim sum restaurant frequented by tourists and students at the University of San Francisco that made many "best of" lists.
"It's pretty dramatic, but we have pretty good handle on it," Ms Hayes-White said.
Caroline Gasparini, 24, who lives near where the fire ignited, said she and her housemate were in their living room when the windows started rattling. She looked up to see flames reflected in the glass.
"We went into crisis mode," Ms Gasparini said. "We grabbed our shoes, grabbed our laptops and grabbed our passports and just left."
Ms Gasparini said they saw employees of the burning restaurant run out the back door and people fleeing down the block.
Firefighters worked to keep the fire from spreading while Pacific Gas & Electric crews tried to shut off the natural gas line.
PG&E spokesman Paul Doherty said the utility was working as quickly as possible to shut off the gas.
Joseph Feusi lives four blocks away and said he was awoken by what sounded like a jet engine. He said he could see the towering flames from his home.
"I think the eight guys are really lucky they didn't get blown to bits," he said.
Photo: AP
Neighbour Irwin Silver, who lives down the street from the restaurant where crews were working, told KTVU he heard "a big explosion."
"We went outside and you could see the workers from the restaurant running down our block," he said. "It's scary. I walked past the trench where the guys are working. I walked my pet earlier today."
Mr Doherty, the PG&E spokesman, stressed that the workers who cut the gas line were not affiliated with the utility, which is under heightened scrutiny over its natural gas pipelines.
A PG&E pipeline exploded under a neighbourhood south of San Francisco in 2010, killing eight people and wiping out a neighbourhood in suburban San Bruno.
A United States judge fined the nation's largest utility $US3 million ($NZ4.4m) for a conviction on six felony charges of failing to properly maintain the pipeline. California regulators also fined PG&E $US1.6 billion and the utility remains under a federal judge's watch in that case.
- AP