A two-alarm fire burned a building on Lilac Street early Thursday morning, sending one person to the hospital for minor smoke inhalation, according to Battalion Chief Kevin McKeon, who was on the scene.
The fire struck an abandoned building at 2975 Mission St., according to Lieutenant Jonathan Baxter, the San Francisco Fire Department spokesperson. The building was burned in the back, abutting Lilac Street, which runs parallel to Mission.
A cause for the fire has not been determined, Baxter said. Fire investigators were on the scene early Thursday morning.
Two buildings next door were affected. Both are commercial buildings that were unoccupied at the time of the fire, and no residents were displaced.
McKeon said the department received the first call regarding the fire around 12:07 a.m. The two-alarm fire was extinguished as of 1 a.m., added Baxter, and involved more than 70 firefighters and more than 20 vehicles, including fire engines.
Firefighters gathered on Mission Street and the Lilac Street alley to combat the blaze.
Surge Dindral, a current resident and former president of a condo building located nearby, at 2987 Mission St., watched as firefighters gathered outside of his home. Other residents stood nearby, some swathed in blankets. Dindral said that all 12 residents of the building had been evacuated safely while the fire burned.
Shortly thereafter, around 1:40 a.m., Dindral and the other residents were allowed to return to their homes.
On Thursday morning, shopkeepers in the adjacent buildings were busy sweeping away water from their flooded stores.
Fire engines and fire fighters combatted a 2-alarm blaze early Thursday morning that struck a vacant building. Photo by Haley Parsley. September 14, 2023. 
Fire engines and fire fighters combatted a 2-alarm blaze early Thursday morning that struck a vacant building. Photo by Haley Parsley. September 14, 2023. 
A 2-alarm fire struck a vacant building on the 2900 block of Mission Street early Thursday morning. Photo courtesy the San Francisco Fire Department. September 14, 2023.
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Maps shows the residential building on the left was under construction last year, glad that didn’t go up in flames. This is a risk for abandoned buildings – some of them sit for years esp in the Mission, like the building on 16th near Van Ness. Doesn’t the city have power to condemn them?
Hopefully many of these sites can be made into housing and not hostilely opposed by Calle 24.
The city still hasn’t disclosed the cause of the major fire in Hayes Valley at least a month ago. All abandoned buildings are attractive nuisances for vagrants. The owners need to secure them. It would not be surprising if a “camp fire” started this one and also the fire in Hayes Valley. We have to pay the SFFD to extinguish these – why isn’t the city disclosing the causes and more importantly putting a stop to them?
I live a few blocks from here and heard what sounded like fireworks (pops, bangs, etc) just a few minutes before 12:10am.
Living in the Mission it’s not uncommon to hear fireworks, but I wonder if some stray fireworks might have started it—unless of course, it was the sound of something catching fire or exploding during the fire? Regardless, too bad to hear.
This spot has been an encampment/hangout for years where people have set up tents and bbqs and makeshift barricade/fences. It’s no surprise it caught on fire. I live right near here and reported problematic gathering here for years and now this fire almost hit our own building. City should have done more about this space to prevent the fire instead of leaving such a risk to the community. Probably no coincidence this is right near problematic property that has been a gambling den in the past- https://missionlocal.org/2017/04/shuttered-sf-mission-gambling-den-resurfaces-in-the-bayview/
When there’s nothin’ left … ya bust the joint out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPtjyqgZAUk
I take it Joe wom the pop culture challenge?