Residents near San Francisco fire put lives on hold

With fire crews still on the scene of Tuesday's five-alarm fire that destroyed an apartment building under construction in San Francisco's Mission Bay, evacuated residents remained uncertain Wednesday afternoon when they would be able to return home.

Fire Department spokeswoman Mindy Talmadge said most of the evacuated residents live at the Strata at Mission Bay apartments, and all have been able to find temporary housing on their own.

Zoe Solsby, a spokeswoman for Sares-Regis Group, which manages the 192-unit property that was built in 2009, said a team is walking through the evacuated building to "make sure apartments are safe and secure."

Staff is working with tenants to assist with any needs, she said.

She said staff is still working to figure out how many units were directly affected and what other damage the building sustained.

About 95 percent of the units are occupied, Solsby said.

She said staff was assessing the damage that mostly affected the front side of the building facing Fourth Street.

An employee at the front desk at the Strata leasing office said Wednesday morning that residents were not allowed to return home, but some had come earlier Wednesday to pick up belongings.

Talmadge said a sprinkler system had gone off in the Strata building and staff were unable to turn it off overnight and water was still coming out Wednesday morning.

Solsby said the sprinklers were also being assessed and it was unclear how much damage the water had caused.

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Residents near San Francisco fire put lives on hold