Massive fire destroys most of Redwood City housing project under construction – NBC Bay Area

Cleanup continued Tuesday after a massive eight-alarm fire at a Redwood City affordable housing construction site prompted evacuations and an air quality advisory.

Tuesday morning, crews remained at the site, monitoring hot spots and possible flare-ups in one of the Bay Area's largest fires in recent years.

The fire was first reported at 10:15 a.m. Monday in the 2700 block of Middlefield Road and spread quickly through the wooden frame of a 179-unit housing development under construction, officials said. firefighters.

A massive fire in a building under construction forced evacuations in Redwood City on Monday. Terry McSweeney takes a closer look.

The threat of the structure collapsing prompted authorities to evacuate nearby homes, but some of those evacuees were allowed to return home Monday evening.

Some scaffolding at the site collapsed Monday evening, firefighters said.

The nonprofit developer, Mercy Housing, told NBC Bay Area the affordable housing project has been in the works for about a decade. One of the two buildings was destroyed, totaling 104 homes, while the second building did not burn, Mercy Housing said.

The developer added that he remained committed to completing the project.