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Update: The SF Fire Department now counts 10 residents who have been displaced. That number, again, could change.
Rebecca Rudolph, a neighbor, has set up a GoFundMe campaign for those who need help. So far only $1,275 has been raised.
Earlier: Posted Nov. 14, 11:24 a.m.
Three tenants were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries Tuesday morning after a two-alarm fire broke out at 6 a.m. and spread to two buildings on the east side of Valencia Street between 20th and 21st streets.
Between eight and 14 tenants were displaced, leaving some traumatized after they opened their doors to flames, and were forced to wait for the fire department to be rescued off rooftops and fire escapes.
The fire department said it rescued five tenants and got the fire under control by 6:47 a.m. It counted only eight tenants displaced, but said the number could change. There were at least 16 units in the two buildings, likely filled with more than eight tenants, and the fire department said both buildings have been declared uninhabitable.
Three of the four units at the two-story 963 Valencia St. building, and 10 of the 12 units at the three-story 969-975 Valencia St. building were occupied, according to tenants who gathered across the street after the fire, speaking with one another and the American Red Cross. That could bring the number of displaced tenants to at least 14, as one apartment had two tenants.
The 969-975 Valencia St. building also had two ground-floor businesses: The Darkside Initiative and the Ministry of Scent.
While no one was seriously injured, residents said they woke up at 6 a.m. to the beeping of fire alarms, and quickly discovered hallways already filled with smoke and a stairwell in flames. It appears that the fire started in the stairwell at 969-975 Valencia St. and then spread to 963 Valencia St., but an investigation is underway, according to the battalion chief, Kevin McKeon, who was on site.
Gabrielle, a 30-year-old designer who lived in the back-middle apartment at 975 Valencia, said that after the alarm woke her up, she opened her door to flames. She quickly stepped out of her back window, but looked down to see the stairs used for escape in flames. “I hopped onto the low building connected,” she said, but that, too, proved unhelpful in getting out of the building.
She credited the calm demeanor of a tenant nearby, Jordan, for calming her down and then rescuing an 80-year-old tenant on the third floor. “He ripped the screen off [her window] and he got her out,” she said, adding that within three minutes, firefighters were there to rescue the tenants gathered on the ledge.
Other tenants said that the woman who was rescued was Yolanda, who is in her 80s and has lived in the building for more than 30 years.
Victor Gonzalez, who lives in a unit at the front of the building, found himself out on the fire escape at the front of the building. He woke up to a “beep beep beep,” he said, “and I am trying to figure out what is happening.”
“I hear someone running down the stairs,” he said. But when he opened his door, he saw a cloudy pink hallway and flames on the stairwell. He could not exit, so he left by a window to climb onto the fire escape. He waited there until he was rescued by the fire department.
Amrit Kapil, a dentist who lives in the 963 Valencia St. building, said a neighbor knocked on his door and he saw fire next door, so he exited quickly and the fire department was on the scene. On Tuesday morning, Kapil and other tenants were talking about renting U-Haul trucks to cart their belongings away. Few thought they would be back soon.
Daniel Navarrete, a 47-year-old mechanic, and his partner, Angelica Torre, also live at 963 Valencia St.
He showed photos of what remained of his apartment. “We are trying to see what we can do,” he said.
The American Red Cross was on the scene and said any tenant would get emergency housing and other help. They should call 1-800- RED CROSS.
From an unknown bystander 
Fire trucks at the scene. Photo provided by San Francisco Fire Department, November 14, 2023. 
Fire at 975 Valencia St. Photo provided by San Francisco Fire Department. November 14, 2023. 
The facade earlier this morning. Photo by Lydia Chávez 
Daniel Navarette’s apartment at 963 Valencia Street. Photo by Daniel Navarette
Xueer Lu contributed to this report.
This is a breaking story and we will be updating.
Thanks for the great reporting. Could Mission Local consider starting a practice of naming cross streets when giving addresses of events? In San Francisco, the address doesn’t help situate the place without knowing a cross street. No big deal but I’m always leaving your site to look up where things are in Maps. Thanks again for your work!
You are right. How could I forget? It drives me crazy when we fail to do this. Will fix now.
Great point! Yes, please, that should be the practice.
21st streer
I agree,,,,in this case the building are between 20th & 21st Streets
Thank you SFFD!
Thank you for the story.
Sad that people turn a tragedy like this into a political argument. My heart goes out to those who lost their homes and were injured.
This was a scary fire. I was up early. The flames were shooting high into the sky.
FYI, it appears that the building was for sale. I really hope this wasn’t an owner trying to collect on insurance.
Please don’t be flagrant and suggest that this was arson. I’ve lived here long enough to know that this kind of absurd speculation only makes things worse for everyone—tenants and property owners alike.
Candace, what building was for sale? Are you trolling and spreading false information?
Candance – can I have some of whatever you are smoking??? Where do you read a political instance on this article. Whatever you are, I want some 😂😂😂
If the owner planned an insurance fraud then it seems unlikely that they would offer the property for sale first. That said fires happen more often in low-rent, rent-controlled buildings, probably not a coincidence.
This most likely was them trying to clear the way for higher rents. I’ve seen this happen with a couple of buildings in SF. It’s really awful.
Eileen, if SF rental, building and planning laws are so punitive that property owners feel an incentive to burn down their own buildings (and I have seen no evidence that is the case) then what does that say about our local laws?
“Right now I’m trying to figure out how you make that long-held interest in local news sustainable. The answer continues to elude me.”
Hi Lydia, I don’t know if you’ll see this, but I hope so.
Have you considered trying a different editorial stance?
Mission Local is far, far left. That represents the politics of many white people in the Mission. But it doesn’t represent the entire city, or even the entire Mission. Would it help if the publication moved from far, far left to merely left?
You must be aware that all the political energy in SF right now is coming from the center-left (what Mission Local likes to call “right-wing billionaires” because you are so far left that Bernie Sanders is a right-winger to you.) You would have a larger audience with a less extremist viewpoint.
You might also have access to more funding, because the center-left has more money.
Just a thought. Personally I’m glad that Mission Local is around to cover local news, imperfect though it is, because there aren’t as many reporters covering the city as 20 years ago. City Hall is corrupt and will get worse without press scrutiny. More reporters are better. But it would be even better if your political stance wasn’t laughable. Good luck.
ML is inclusive and progressive, like the community it is reporting from and about, but I would not call it “far far left”. Many of the ML reporters are young and still gaining experience but I feel like they are generally trying hard to be fair and balanced in their reporting. For me, ML has a lot of integrity.
Candace: We don’t take a “far far left” or any political stance. We try to do a lot of reporting and we hope that makes our readers smarter voters. And yes, we’re never perfect and always want to be better.
Not as laughable as your comment. Musk, Tan, and their acolytes and astro-turf “community groups” are “center left”? If I were you I would recant before they sue for defamation of character or threaten to have you drug-tested and thrown in jail
This leftist just sent them $50, and I will send more later. Thanks for reminding me to support Mission Local.