Fire at Redwood City construction site knocked down after triggering evacuations

Fire crews on the Peninsula on Monday morning have knocked down a large fire that burned at an affordable-housing construction site in Redwood City that led to evacuation orders for people in the area, according to authorities.

The fire is burning on the 2700 block of Middlefield Rd., according a social media post by the San Mateo County Sheriff's office just before 11 a.m. Residents who live nearby on Pacific Ave. and Calvin Ave. were advised to evacuate immediately.

About 20 minutes later, evacuations were extended to include those living on Dumbarton Ave. from the train tracks to Middlefield Rd. The sheriff said fire crews are at the scene.

Deputies were on site evacuating residents as the fire grew. The public was asked to avoid the area.

Redwood City Fire later confirmed that the fire started at around 10:15 a.m. on the 5th floor of the building. The wind was presenting a challenge as crews tried to bring it under control. An 8th alarm as been called for the incident, according to officials.

Video posted on the Citizen App and social media showed the large multi-story structure was fully involved. Several ladder trucks could be seen pouring water on the building. The fire was burning in a more industrial part of town, but there are a number of residential neighborhoods nearby.

The fire was close enough to the Caltrain tracks that service was impacted, with trains being held as crews worked to knock down the fire. A bus bridge was put in place between Redwood City and Menlo Park with Samtrans providing parallel service for riders affected by the train holds.

Shortly before 3 p.m., Caltrain announced it would resume regular service, though there was a 50 mph speed restriction for trains as they travel through Redwood City  

Caltrain transitioned to hourly service and advised riders to expect significant delays.   

By around 12:35 p.m., the fire had mostly burned out the building, leaving only the skeletal metal frame still standing. Smoke was still rising from the ruins of the construction site.  

"The fire started on the north end of the building and then was pushed by the winds, all the way over to this side," said Menlo Park Fire Chief Mark Lorenzen. "The big challenge is, initially, there is no firewalls in there, they haven't been constructed yet. So it's just a tinderbox and the fire spreads pretty quickly." 

Lorenzen made a direct comparison to a wildland fire; a large construction fire, fueled by just enough wind, sending burning debris into nearby neighborhoods.

"Here we are in the middle of an urban suburban area dealing with what we saw yesterday in San Joaquin. Fire spread through embers," said Lorenzen. "It's probably at least a dozen small little spot fires they've been dealing with on roofs, fences, grass lots."  

From the earliest stages, firefighters knew what they facing.

"We had some decent winds kind of pushing the fire through the building. We recognized early on that this was going to be an exterior attack," Lorenzen explained. "Defensive. There's almost no way to stop it and we want to ensure that we don't harm our firefighters also."

From the earliest stages, firefighters knew what they facing.

"We had some decent winds kind of pushing the fire through the building. We recognized early on that this was going to be an exterior attack," Lorenzen explained. "Defensive. There's almost no way to stop it and we want to ensure that we don't harm our firefighters also."

Lorenzen also noted there were safety factors firefighters needed to remain aware of as they battled the blaze. 

"Stay back far enough so that if it collapses, we're out of the collapse zone. It's one thing we don't want to do in a building that's already been determined a loss is to hurt anybody, injure anyone," Lorenzen said.

When the smoke cleared, it was easier to see how that defensive work saved the other portion of the construction. Now fire officials will investigate to find a cause. They are hopeful one of the construction workers saw something during the initial report of smoke on the 5th floor. 

"As far as I could tell when they were evacuated, it looked like there were well over 100 construction workers," Lorenzen said. "Like I said, we'll see if we had any eyewitnesses to the fire start."

The Bay Area Air Quality Management District posted about the impacts of smoke from the fire after it was extinguished.

The post noted that smoke downwind from the location including parts of Redwood City, Palo Alto, Mountain View, Santa Clara and San Jose could experience reduced air quality. Individuals who are sensitive to smoke were advised to remain indoors with windows closed if possible. Residents can check air quality at the fire.airnow.gov website. 

A temporary evacuation site was opened at the Veterans Memorial Senior Center at 1455 Madison Ave. in Redwood City. Resources will be provided there for those who were evacuated by the fire. 

As of 3 p.m., authorities said the fire was contained to the structure of origin and that emergency responders were beginning to allow some residents to return to their homes.   

The construction site is for a 179-unit affordable housing project known as Middlefield Junction near the border of Redwood City and North Fair Oaks in San Mateo County. The vacant parcel is county-owned land behind the Fair Oaks Health Center. The project was to consist of new apartments from one to three bedrooms, a child care center and community open space. The estimated cost of the project was $155 million.

Wilson Walker contributed to this story.

In:
• Building Fire
• San Mateo County
• Fire
• Redwood City