Steam Bath: Downtown S.F. Denizens Duck Boiling Water as Workers Pump Pipes

Boiling water, steam, and Scientology. Just another morning downtown.

Downtown shoppers, commuters, and the ubiquitous statuesque blonde Scientology pamphleteers enjoyed the odors of a YMCA steam room and hopped over puddles of near-boiling water as steam workers pumped out flooded pipes today.

A pair of jumpsuited employees dodging traffic on Fourth and Market fired up a fire engine red electric pump roughly the size of a breadbox and a hose immediately responded with a persistant spurt of extremely hot water (trust us). The moist, super-heated atmosphere down below the manhole covers resulted in large clouds of steam billowing up from underground and enveloping the intersection.

The workers were simultaneously evasive and entertaining; when asked if they were pumping out flooded pipes one responded in a long, falsetto sing-song: "yeeeeeee-eeeeeessss!" The two wouldn't say who they worked for, but directed queries to the writing on the side of their truck: NRG Steam.

It may not be common knowledge, but a private company (not called PG&E) provides steam power to a two-square-mile section of downtown San Francisco -- that's roughly 170 buildings taking up 37 million square feet of space. Incidentally, this has been the case since the mid 1990s.

The flooded pipes are part of a 12-mile network weaving beneath San Franciscans' feet. See? Tom Waits was right. There really is a world going on underground.