Firefighters worked to stamp out the remaining hot spots Wednesday at an apartment complex that was consumed by flames in San Francisco's Mission Bay neighborhood, as investigators looked into whether welding work ignited the inferno during construction of the huge project.

Hundreds of residents of homes in nearby buildings remained evacuated because the fire's intense heat blew out windows, set off sprinkler systems and caused other damage.

Water pooled at the base of the gutted structure as firefighters poured millions of gallons of water on the building throughout the day. Puffs of smoke rose periodically as onlookers gathered to take pictures. Workers with brooms swept glass, the debris from the busted windows, from the sidewalk.

Tuesday's blaze - the city's biggest in years - had advanced quickly through the six-story structure, which city officials and building experts said was particularly vulnerable to fire because materials that repel fire hadn't been added and safety systems such as sprinklers hadn't been installed.

Whatever the cause, officials said, the fire appears to have smoldered for up to an hour before crews arrived about 5 p.m., finding 40-foot walls of flames and a plume of smoke that billowed above the city and could be seen across the Bay Area.

Mayor Ed Lee, who visited the site on Fourth Street near China Basin Street on Wednesday, credited firefighters for keeping the conflagration from spreading. The fire was confined to a 172-unit portion of the apartment complex, with the exception of a roof that briefly ignited at an adjacent UCSF research facility.

The scorched building is part of an emerging Mission Bay neighborhood, just south of AT&T Park, where several developments are in the works as part of city revitalization efforts.

"People will say the city responded well, and our Fire Department deserves some kudos on this," Lee said.

The Fourth Street apartments are part of a 360-unit project known as MB360, headed by developer BRE Properties Inc. of San Francisco. A second piece of MB360, where 188 apartments are under construction nearby, did not burn. The homes were expected to be completed late this year.

Officials at BRE Properties said Wednesday that the site was insured for fire damage. However, the future of the site remained unclear as the company plans to merge with Palo Alto-based Essex Properties later this year. Essex Properties officials did not return a call seeking comment.

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San Francisco fire: Welding explored as cause of inferno

Firefighters battling the five-alarm Mission Bay blaze had to tap into San Francisco's rarely used emergency backup water supply when regular sources proved inadequate, officials said Wednesday.

The regular system of mains and hydrants could not provide enough water pressure for the 90 fire engines and trucks that after 5 p.m. Tuesday converged on the burning building, an apartment complex under construction at Fourth and China Basin streets, Fire Department officials said.

As a result, firefighters had to drag 5-inch-diameter hoses several blocks to tap into the city's network of high-pressure emergency fire hydrants, which are fed by gravity from a pair of tanks - the Twin Peaks Reservoir, which holds 10.5 million gallons, and the Jones Street Tank on Nob Hill that contains 750,000 gallons.

The system, which dates to 1913, eventually gave firefighters enough water to control the blaze. But it required time to hook up; dragging the heavy-duty hoses to hydrants hundreds of yards away took more than 30 minutes, firefighters said.

In the meantime, crews used the existing supply to spray a "water curtain" to keep the fire from jumping to other buildings.

"The first step in the puzzle is to increase the domestic water supply," said Assistant Deputy Chief Ken Lombardi. "In a regular fire, if we have enough pressure at that point, game over, that's all we use."

There was only one high-pressure hydrant in the immediate area of the fire, however. Fire crews had to pick their way through other construction sites with their hoses and steel connectors needed to hook up to the more distant hydrants.

"That takes some time," said Mindy Talmadge, a Fire Department spokeswoman. "The first, main focus was protecting the surrounding structures. Once they got the (water pressure), they could deal with both situations at the same time."

Water flow from the backup system may have been slowed by the temporary absence of a third backup reservoir, a 500,000-gallon-capacity reservoir at Clayton Street and Twin Peaks Boulevard known as the Ashbury tank. It is being replaced, leaving the city with just the Twin Peaks and Jones reservoirs plus a pair of pumping stations that draw from San Francisco Bay.

Lombardi said the emergency system worked well once firefighters connected to it, and that it enabled firefighters to direct large amounts of water to put out the stubborn inferno.

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Emergency water supply used to fight San Francisco fire

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

SAN FRANCISCO Fire investigators on Wednesday were looking into whether welding work was to blame for a massive blaze that barreled through an apartment building construction site, threatening nearby structures and prompting evacuations as firefighters worked to prevent its spread through a San Francisco neighborhood.

City officials said a catastrophe was narrowly avoided in an up-and-coming area near AT&T Park, home of the Giants.

"I think we're very lucky that the fire didn't jump anymore," Mayor Ed Lee said.

The exact cause of the blaze -- one of the largest in the city in recent years -- was under investigation. Fire officials were looking into preliminary reports that workers at the block-long site were doing torch work shortly before the fire was reported around 5 p.m. Tuesday, Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White said.

"It's too early to determine a cause at this point," Fire Department Battalion Chief Kirk Richardson said. "Our arson investigators still have a lot of material they have to look at."

Two firefighters suffered minor injuries. One of them, Tom Murphy, suffered burns while battling the fire from above but didn't realize he was injured for hours, said firefighter Stephen Maguire, whose crew was among the first to arrive.

The five-alarm fire created a plume of black smoke that was visible for miles and led to the evacuation of nearby buildings as about 150 firefighters were called to contain it. A wall of the burning building collapsed about an hour after the fire began.

Firefighters had to take a defensive stance because the building was leaning in some areas, Maguire said.

The blaze cracked windows at Strata at Mission Bay, an apartment building across the street, and sent an ember onto the roof of a University of California, San Francisco building.

Flames briefly spread to scaffolding at another building under construction, Maguire said.

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Investigators look for cause of San Francisco fire

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SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) Crews on Wednesday afternoon started demolishing the remains of an apartment building that was under construction in San Franciscos Mission Bay neighborhood when it was destroyed in a five-alarm fire Tuesday.

The fire was reported just before 5 p.m. and quickly grew, sending up a dark plume of smoke that could be seen from many parts of the Bay Area. Flames spread and engulfed the building, and there was initial concern that the blaze could spread to other structures.

The flames have since been quelled and water has been poured onto the building overnight and throughout most of the day, according to fire officails.

The blaze has been contained to the building, but nearby buildings, including the Strata at Mission Bay apartments and a building at the University of California at San Francisco Mission Bay campus, were damaged by flying embers, excessive heat and smoke, officials said.

PHOTOS:San Francisco Mission Bay Fire

Deputy Chief Mark Gonzales said this isnt your typical fire, and fire crews will remain at the scene Wednesday evening watching for flare-ups as the demolition proceeds.

The construction company, Suffolk Construction Co., brought in equipment around 3 p.m. to pull apart the gutted building, parts of which were threatening to collapse, Gonzales said.

Fire crews are assisting and ready to put out any smoldering areas deeper into the building, he said.

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Crews Begin Knocking Down Building Damaged In San Francisco Mission Bay Fire

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SAN FRANCISCO (CBS / AP) Fire investigators on Wednesday were looking into whether welding work was to blame for a massive blaze that barreled through an apartment building construction site, threatening nearby structures and prompting evacuations as firefighters worked to prevent its spread through a San Francisco neighborhood.

City officials said a catastrophe was narrowly avoided in an up-and-coming area near AT&T Park, home of the Giants.

I think were very lucky that the fire didnt jump anymore, Mayor Ed Lee said.

The exact cause of the blazeone of the largest in the city in recent yearswas under investigation. Fire officials were looking into preliminary reports that workers at the block-long site were doing torch work shortly before the fire was reported around 5 p.m. Tuesday, Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White said.

Its too early to determine a cause at this point, Fire Department Battalion Chief Kirk Richardson said. Our arson investigators still have a lot of material they have to look at.

PHOTOS:San Francisco Mission Bay Fire

Two firefighters suffered minor injuries. One of them, Tom Murphy, suffered burns while battling the fire from above but didnt realize he was injured for hours, said firefighter Stephen Maguire, whose crew was among the first to arrive.

The five-alarm fire created a plume of black smoke that was visible for miles and led to the evacuation of nearby buildings as about 150 firefighters were called to contain it. A wall of the burning building collapsed about an hour after the fire began.

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Welding Possible Cause Of San Francisco Mission Bay Fire

By TERRY COLLINS and SUDHIN THANAWALA, Associated Press

A fire burned in a building under construction in San Francisco's China Basin on March 12, 2014. (Courtesy KGO-TV)

SAN FRANCISCO -- San Francisco fire investigators on Wednesday were looking into whether welding work was to blame for a massive blaze that barreled through an apartment building construction site, threatening nearby buildings, prompting evacuations and forcing officials to call in about half the city's on-duty firefighters to prevent its spread.

As fire crews doused hotspots in the charred remains of the block-long apartment complex, city officials said they narrowly avoided a catastrophe in an up-and-coming neighborhood near the San Francisco Giants ballpark.

"I think we're very lucky that the fire didn't jump anymore," Mayor Ed Lee said.

The exact cause of the fire -- one of the city's largest in recent years -- was under investigation. But fire officials were looking into preliminary reports that workers were doing torch work at the site shortly before the fire was reported around 5 p.m. Tuesday, Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White said.

The five-alarm fire created a plume of black smoke that was visible for miles and led to the evacuation of nearby buildings, as about 150 firefighters were called in to contain it. One of the walls of the burning building collapsed about an hour after the fire began.

"We were hoping that we could contain it as quickly as possible," said firefighter Stephen Maguire, whose crew was among the first to arrive at the scene.

Firefighters had to take a defensive stance because the building was leaning in some areas, he said.

The blaze cracked windows on an apartment building, Strata at Mission Bay, across the street and sent an ember onto the roof of a University of California, San Francisco building in the neighborhood. It also briefly spread to scaffolding at another building under construction, Maguire said.

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Welding possible cause of massive San Francisco fire

(03-12) 09:52 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- Hundreds of Mission Bay apartment dwellers chased from their homes by a huge fire at a building under construction are fortunate to have homes to return to, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee said Wednesday as firefighters put out hot spots and sought to determine whether welders caused the blaze.

"We're very lucky" that firefighters were able to contain the five-alarm blaze to the building that burned at Fourth and China Basin streets Tuesday, Lee said as firefighters sprayed water on the remains of the six-story, 80-foot-tall structure.

The fire broke out about 5 p.m. and quickly consumed the building, an apartment complex being built by Suffolk Construction Co. that was supposed to open late this year. Smoke that billowed thousands of feet into the air was visible around the Bay Area.

The cause of the fire is not known, though Lee, speaking at a news conference Wednesday morning after touring the site, said construction workers had been welding in the area where the fire is thought to have started.

"It appears that the fire started above ground," Lee said. "They were doing some welding. We don't know what occurred there. I'll be very patient to wait until the investigation is concluded by our Fire Department and by the contractors themselves."

Most of the workers had left for the day before the blaze began, and investigators suspect that the fire could have smoldered for some time before erupting, said Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White.

The chief said the fire had presented "unique challenges," because the building's sprinklers and other fire-suppression systems had not yet been installed. Half of the Fire Department's on-duty firefighters battled the blaze, she said.

"Our objective last night was to contain the fire to the building of origin," Hayes-White said. "Crews did a phenomenal job."

Lee added, "People will say the city responded well, and our Fire Department deserves some kudos on this."

Blowing embers did briefly ignite a small fire on the roof of a UCSF building about a block away. That fire was quickly put out by building maintenance workers.

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Firefighters still dousing building's remains after blaze

San Francisco --

A fast-moving fire that consumed a large apartment building under construction in San Francisco's Mission Bay neighborhood burned into the night Tuesday, but firefighters were able to keep the blaze from spreading to nearby structures.

The five-alarm fire engulfed the building on Fourth Street near China Basin Street just before 5 p.m., sending black smoke thousands of feet into the sky. Scaffolding melted as chunks of the six-story, 80-foot-tall building fell away. Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White called it the city's largest blaze in several years.

Fire officials said the structure was likely to collapse.

"The open construction of the building allowed for rapid fire spread," said fire Capt. Matthew McNaughton, adding that investigators have not determined what started the blaze.

Nearby buildings were evacuated as more than 150 firefighters battled the flames, using about 90 fire trucks and other apparatuses. The roof of UCSF's Mission Bay research building, a block away, briefly caught fire, but it was quickly put out, McNaughton said.

One firefighter suffered minor burns, he said, but there were no other injuries.

The smoke "was like a huge mushroom cloud. It was as high as a plane," said Gary "Slim" Forte, 38, who was among a large crowd of locals watching the fire. "It looked like somebody blew a nuclear weapon."

Several dozen residents were evacuated from the Strata apartment building across Fourth Street from the construction site, and about 25 were gathered late Tuesday at an American Red Cross evacuation center at Pier 54.

Firefighters still had not contained the blaze by 10:15 p.m. McNaughton said he expected crews to remain on scene until the morning. "We have a center core that looks like a volcano," he said.

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Huge San Francisco fire destroys six-story apartment project

SAN FRANCISCOSan Francisco fire investigators on Wednesday were looking into whether welding work was to blame for a massive blaze that barreled through an apartment building construction site, threatening nearby buildings, prompting evacuations and forcing officials to call in about half the city's on-duty firefighters to prevent its spread.

As fire crews doused hotspots in the charred remains of the block-long apartment complex, city officials said they narrowly avoided a catastrophe in an up-and-coming neighborhood near the San Francisco Giants ballpark.

"I think we're very lucky that the fire didn't jump anymore," Mayor Ed Lee said.

The exact cause of the fireone of the city's largest in recent yearswas under investigation, but fire officials were looking into preliminary reports that workers were doing torch work at the site shortly before the fire was reported around 5 p.m. Tuesday, Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White said.

The five-alarm fire created a plume of black smoke that was visible for miles and led to the evacuation of nearby buildings, as more than 150 firefighters were called in to contain it. One of the walls of the burning building collapsed about an hour after the fire began.

The blaze also cracked windows on an apartment building, Strata at Mission Bay, across the street and sent an ember onto the roof of a University of California, San Francisco building in the neighborhood. Two firefighter suffered minor injuries.

The fire was fueled by wood frames and other materials at the site, Hayes-White said. Since it was under construction, the building also had no fire suppression systems.

"Our objective last night, which we were able to achieve, was to contain (the fire) to the building of origin," she said.

Fire officials did not have an exact estimate on the damage on Wednesday, but said the entire six-story building was considered a loss.

The Strata apartment building remained evacuated on Wednesday.

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Mayor: Welding at site of big San Francisco blaze