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San Mateo County Sheriff’s Deputy Edgar Manilla helped a Millbrae woman and her two small children escape a fire at an apartment complex, then returned to help a pair of elderly residents reach safety on Monday, authorities said.

The three-alarm fire reported at 12:36 p.m. displaced all residents of the complex at 1007 Hemlock Ave., Millbrae officials said. The Central County Fire Department, San Bruno Fire Department, and the South San Francisco Fire Department contained and extinguished the fire.

Following the evacuation, Deputy Manilla was taken to Mills Peninsula Hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation.

“Good team-work including fire personnel, medics, Millbrae Police Bureau deputies and tenants helped deliver a happier ending to what could have been a tragic story,” the sheriff’s office said.

According to the City of Millbrae, “all residents have been displaced and are receiving services from the Red Cross while temporary housing solutions are worked on in collaboration with the property management company.”

The cause of the fire is under investigation. Anyone who has information regarding this incident is encouraged to call the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office Anonymous Tip Line at 1-800-547-2700.

While the COVID-19 shelter-in-place order has been extended through May 31, “all construction activities, certain businesses that operate primarily outdoors, and some outdoor activities will be allowed to resume with specific conditions,” public health officials announced today.

Under the new orders, which take effect May 4, all construction projects compliant with safety protocols will be allowed to resume. Also, all real estate transactions will also now be able to resume, but with continued restrictions on open houses and limitations on in-person viewings. Certain outdoor businesses can open again, including wholesale and retail nurseries, landscapers, gardeners, and other businesses that primarily provide outdoor services as set forth in the order. However, outdoor businesses do not include restaurants, cafes or bars, regardless of whether they have outdoor seating.

In addition, residential moves and the use of certain shared outdoor recreational facilities, like skate parks, golf, tennis and shooting/archery, can resume, but not spaces involving shared equipment or physical contact, according to the order. On Tuesday, the San Mateo County Parks Department announced the reopening of trails in 13 of 23 parks.

The health order restricts outdoor recreation to within 10 miles of a person’s residence. Also, San Mateo County’s beach parking lots and adjacent parking areas must remain closed to the public for beach access.

In addition, childcare, summer camps, educational and recreational programs are allowed to occur in “stable groups of 12 or fewer children” that includes the same children every day.

The easing of restrictions is a testament to the progress the shelter-in-place orders have made in limiting the spread of COVID-19, which has prevented a surge of cases that can overwhelm hospitals, according to public health officials. Further easing will be determined on indicators including whether the number of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continue to flatten or decrease; whether there is an adequate supply of personal protective equipment for healthcare provides; testing ability, especially for vulnerable populations; and ability to isolate infected officials.

“I hope that the indicators will continue to improve, which will allow future revisions to the order to focus more on behavior and risk and less on categories of businesses,” San Mateo County Health Officer Dr. Scott Morrow said. “We continue to work with the Governor’s Office on opportunities for lower risk sectors to adapt and re-open.”

As of Tuesday, there were 7,273 confirmed cases (up from 258 confirmed cases on March 15) and 266 deaths (up from four deaths on March 15) in the five Bay Area counties jointly issuing this order.

San Mateo County’s orders are available here:

Health Officer Order Revising Shelter In Place Through May 31

APPENDIX A: Social Distancing Protocol (Updated April 29, 2020)

APPENDIX B-1: Small Construction Project Safety Protocol

APPENDIX B-2: Large Construction Project Safety Protocol

The San Mateo County Parks Department will reopen trails in 13 of its 23 parks on Monday, May 4, the County announced Tuesday. The trails have been closed since March 27 as part of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Parks slated to open include Edgewood, Huddart, Wunderlich, San Pedro Valley, Quarry, Pillar Point Bluff, San Bruno Mountain, Junipero Serra Park, and Pescadero Creek. The segment of the Bay Trail that goes through Coyote Point Recreation Area will be accessible, but the park will remain closed, according to the County. Ralston Bike Trail, which crosses over Highway 280 and connects bicyclist to Canada Road, will also reopen.

However, playgrounds, picnic areas, campgrounds, fields, visitor centers, and some restrooms and parking lots will remain closed.

To prevent congestion, the department will transition some single-track trails to one-direction routes, open a limited number of parking lots, prohibit road parking, and keep some trails closed to bikes. Dogs must be on leash in parks and trails where dog walking is allowed.

Crystal Springs Regional Trail will reopen, but only to foot traffic for now. Bicycles won’t be allowed on the 15-mile trail due to the trail’s popularity.

“Visitors will be required to hike single file on narrow trails, keep six feet apart from others, not congregate with people who aren’t from their household, and carry face coverings,” the department said.

Additional parks will be opened in phases and based on factors that include “visitor compliance with rules, the department’s ability to secure adequate cleaning and protective supplies for staff, and orders issued by the county’s health officer,” the parks department said.

For a complete list of parks, parking lots, and restrooms scheduled to open May 4, visit SMCoParks.org.

Several families were displaced tonight after a fire broke out on the second floor of a three-story apartment building at 1442 Gordon St. in Redwood City, the Redwood City Fire Department reported on Twitter.

RCFD responded to the fire just before 5 p.m. Red Cross is working with fire officials to house several families displaced by the fire “while trying to keep as many as possible in their homes,” fire officials said.

No further details about the fire were immediately available.

Photo credit: Redwood City Fire Department

Redwood City council on Monday approved a Slow Streets pilot program that will temporarily discourage vehicular traffic on certain streets during the COVID-19 shelter-in-place period. The program’s primary aim is to provide safe open spaces for residents to be physically active within their own neighborhood.

City staff’s initial proposal included installing signage that prohibits vehicles from driving through 11 streets unless absolutely necessary, such as needing to get home, visit a business, make deliveries or in emergency situations. Concerns from the community and council prompted adjustments to the initial proposal, including the removal of Poplar Street from Woodside Road to Hudson Street as a slow street in the pilot project.

Also, council allowed one lane to be closed to vehicular traffic on Bridge Parkway from Redwood Shores to Marine Parkway, rather than the initial proposal of closing one lane in each direction.

Other streets set to become Slow Streets as part of the council-approved pilot:

• Flynn Avenue, from Middlefield Road to Spring Street, .4 mi
• Stambaugh Street, from Charter Street to Maple Street, .6 mi
• Allerton Street, from Winslow Street to Whipple Avenue, .3 mi
• Vera Avenue from El Camino Real to Alameda de las Pulgas, 1.1 mi
• Ebener Street from Geneva Avenue to Roosevelt Avenue, .4 mi
• Page Street from Second Avenue to 17th Avenue, .8 mi
• Cypress Street/East Oakwood Boulevard from Woodside Road to Oakwood Avenue, .6 mi
• C Street from Stafford Street to Industrial Avenue, .3 mi
• Katherine Avenue from Elwood Street to Nevada Avenue, .6 mi

The Slow Streets program, expected to cost up to $10,000 for this initial pilot phase, is expected to be in place this weekend. City staff will conduct outreach with neighborhood associations and will report the program’s progress at the next council meeting on May 4. Similar Slow Streets programs have been approved in San Mateo, Oakland, Palo Alto and San Francisco.

Photo taken from the Slow Streets program on a San Francisco street

All inmates at San Mateo County jails received their own bottle of hand sanitizer thanks to a the Science Policy Group at UCSF (SPG).

SPG recently donated 1,000 bottles of hand sanitizer to the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office as part of their mutual aid project to help fight the spread of COVID-19 among vulnerable populations living and working in the Bay Area. The sheriff’s office said it evenly distributed them between the Maguire Correctional Facility and Maple Street Correctional Center. When the bottles begin to run low, SPG has offered to refill them. Inmates have been instructed to notify a deputy when this happens.

On April 12, SPF launched a GoFundMe campaign to procure supplies and manufacture and distribute the sanitizer for vulnerable populations, including those who are incarcerated or without permanent housing. The project has received funding from Democratic Socialists of America-SF and California Wellness Foundation, along with former NFL star running back Marshawn Lynch, who donated 110 gallons of hand sanitizer.

As of today, the project has reached 15,000 people in jails in prisons. Hand sanitizers have gone to the Sunnydale & Oakdale Housing projects, and incarcerated populations in San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Marin, Sonoma, Napa, Solano, and Sacramento County.

Every $10 donate to the mutual aid project can provide 20 people in with hand sanitizer. To donate to SPG, click here.

Photo credit: SPG GoFundMe page

Warning that the COVID-19 pandemic “is still in its early stages” and that premature lifting of restrictions “could easily lead to a large surge in cases,” Bay Area public health officers announced Monday they intend to extend the shelter-in-place health order through May, largely keeping current restrictions. The current shelter-in-place order is set to end May 3.

Set to be released later this week, the extended shelter-in-place orders will include “limited easing of specific restrictions for a small number of lower-risk activities,” according to a joint statement by the public health officers of San Mateo, Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin and San Francisco counties and the City of Berkeley. Health officers will also release a set of broad indicators aligned with the state’s guidelines to determine future easing of restrictions.

“Future easing of restrictions requires that each jurisdiction and various sectors continue to rapidly build critical infrastructure and systems to respond to and control the spread of coronavirus infections and to ensure the health care system’s ability to meet demand,” the public health officers said.

Public health officers said they expect to be responding to COVID-19 for “a long time.”

“This global pandemic of COVID-19 is still in its early stages,” according to the statement. “The virus spreads easily, testing capacity is limited and expanding slowly, and vaccine development is just beginning….As effective as our efforts have been, if we move too fast to ease restrictions, the potential of exponential spread could have grave impacts to health and wellness of our residents as well as the economy.”

Redwood City’s council will consider “soft closures” for certain streets to traffic during the COVID-19 shelter-in-place period in order to allow “physically distant” walking, jogging and bicycling in neighborhoods throughout the city.

Signs at streets would discourage drivers from entering, except for those needing to access their home, visit a business, make a delivery, or in emergency situations.

“The primary goal of the program is to provide safe space for people to get physical activity within their own neighborhood, without jeopardizing their health,” city staff said.

The program intends to move forward in a manner that doesn’t impact emergency vehicle access, transit service, or the ability to receive deliveries.

The proposal’s first phase includes 11 streets covering six miles, roughly 3 percent of the miles under city jurisdiction. If approved by council, the first round of installations would begin around May 1, the city said.

Staff would consider adding streets to the program following implementation and observation of the first phase.

Buying or renting signs and barricades for the initial 11 streets is estimated to cost $10,000. The program costs could reach $30,000 with a more extensive rollout, the city said.

Similar street closure plans are either in place or in the works in San Mateo, Oakland, Palo Alto and San Francisco.

The council meeting is set to begin at 7 p.m. tonight via Zoom. For more information, click here.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been updated to clarify that this program allows for vehicular access to impacted streets in certain necessary situations.