More than 50 firefighters responded to a two-alarm structure fire at 24th and Castro streets Saturday afternoon. Residents of the three-story building were all evacuated and the fire caused no injuries.
Despite the crowds of bystanders with smart phones and curious children, it took the firefighters just over 30 minutes to calm the smoke and blazes.
“This was a tough fire for us,” said Matt McNaughton, assistant chief of the fire department’s Division 3. “(These firefighters) did an outstanding job.”
The fire started in the back of the building on the second or third floor, but officials are still investigating the cause, McNaughton said.
Ellen Cox, a Bernal Heights resident, was taking a walk when she saw the black smoke and flames pouring out the back of the apartment building.
“It was really stunning and shocking to see the flames,” Cox said. “The flames – it was out of control for a long time.”
Fred Sanchez, who works at Noe Valley Auto Works across the street from the fire, smelled the smoke from the fire.
“I thought the smell was probably coming from our shop,” Sanchez said. “But then someone came in and yelled to us to call 9-1-1.”
Firefighters broke the windows on the second and third floors, said Sophear Meas, who also works at Noe Valley Auto Works.
“Before they broke the windows you could see black smoke against the windows,” Meas said. “I thought they were going to burst open.”
There was extensive damage to the second and third floors of the building, which house apartments, McNaughton said. The flames burnt through the second story floor.
The RadioShack on the bottom floor sustained water damage, but McNaughton could not yet predict the full extent of the damage to the storefront or the apartment flats.
The fire department evacuated five residents, but is still trying to determine the total number of residents that lived in the building.
“No injuries, either civilian or firefighter,” McNaughton said to a crowd of people and television reporters. “That’s fabulous.”
What does a crowd of bystanders — with or without smart phones and curious children — have to do with how long it takes to put out a fire???
–rewrite–
Firefighters extinguished the blaze in about a half-hour as a crowd with small children and smart phones watched nearby.
Nice job! lc
Hello all-
Thank you for your support!
A new and larger event is being planned for the first week in October, so sadly this event is no more.
Catherine Bergstrom is heading this event and if you want to participate, please contact her at bergstrom.catherine@gmail.com
Thanks!!
*safely! Oops
*walked out safetly
It’s very sad to know the people who lived above my job will no longer have a home to tend to for a while. As for Radio Shack, well the water damage will take around 6 months or more to repair. Yikes! The owner of the building gets my best wishes since she just remolded that building this year!
No one was injured and I’m glad I smelled the smoke and walked safety.
I was there too. Before the fire crews arrived, loads of people were standing across the street taking pictures with their phones. There were people inside, and it sounded like they were calling for help. Sure it would have been stupid for bystanders to take risks with help on the way, but just to continue taking pictures with people in grave danger??? Yuk.
I was walking on 24th away from the fire and was disappointed by the failure to yield to emergency vehicles by both cars and pedestrians. To be specific there was a large engine making a left onto 24th from Church blocked by an able bodied single pedestrian that didn’t have the courtesy to get out of the way. He saw the truck coming and entered the intersection. This was after a number of fire dept trucks had already passed and smoke was in the air.
Please give our emergency responders the courtesy to get out of their way.