A one-alarm fire broke out on Missouri Street in the Potrero Hill public housing complex on Monday evening, according to the San Francisco Fire Department, which posted video of firefighters on the roof of an apartment, flames shooting through the ceiling.
Lt. Mariano Elias, a fire department spokesperson, said the building was empty and that there were no injuries. The call “came in shortly after 7 p.m.,” he said, and firefighters saw “fire blowing out the windows” at the three-story building. “Upon arrival, all three floors of the housing were on fire. It was blowing through the roof.”
Eight department vehicles were on scene, and smoke and ash filled the air as firefighters began removing charred wood from the newly blackened building — before tonight, the building was already scorched from a past fire.
Coy, an elderly woman who lives in the next building, said she had seen “a girl and a dude” outside the unit. She thought that Monday’s blaze was set by someone who had consistently set fires in the building. “Nobody’s been staying in there,” she said.
Robert Baumann, who called 911 from his unit in the building next door to the blaze, agreed, He said fires have become commonplace at the Potrero Annex, and pointed out different nearby buildings that had seen fires just in the past several weeks.
Elias said that the department has handled fires at the vacant building before, and has had problems with “known squatters.” By 8:30 p.m., the fire was under control.
The building, Elias said, was the site of a deadly January 2023 fire that killed one man, Richard Gescat. Gescat was staying in the abandoned building alongside others, and the public housing complex has seen persistent squatting problems since it began emptying out in preparation for demolition.
One of the firefighters on the scene Monday remembered being at the building two years ago, during the fire that killed Gescat.
Missouri Street winds between the Potrero Hill Recreation Center and the sprawling Potrero Terrace-Annex public housing complex, which has been the focus of intense scrutiny over its private management firm, Eugene Burger Management Corporation. The fire was near the intersection with Turner Terrace, a dead-end street.
Since the complex became slated for destruction as part of a multi-year redevelopment program that would build a mixed-income community on the hill, squatters have taken up residence in several buildings. It appears that no residents were in the building at the time of the fire.
Mission Local began reporting on the complex after the deadly 2023 fire. Since then, public records show that Eugene Burger has consistently failed city scorecards grading its supervision of the site.
The Board of Supervisors has called for three hearings into Eugene Burger and the San Francisco Housing Authority for their management at the site. Last week, the Housing Authority announced it would put out a request for a new property manager, though it is unclear whether another firm would take the contract.
1 alarm fire on the 700 block of Missouri St. Fire on 3 floors of concrete housing. Building is vacant and no victims or injuries. PG&E on scene #SFFD #YOURSFFD pic.twitter.com/ka4qhVNIoW
— SAN FRANCISCO FIRE DEPARTMENT MEDIA (@SFFDPIO) October 1, 2024
On Monday evening, Sandra Molina, a property liaison with Eugene Burger, was surveying the damage, but declined to comment, pending an official fire investigation.
Elias, of the fire department, said the investigative team was on site and would conduct a thorough review.
Eugene Burger’s Affordable Management Division head, Teresa Pegler, said in a statement that employees “walk the property daily to ensure vacant units are not occupied. All vacant and occupied units are hard wired with smoke detectors to monitor smoke and fire conditions. If found tampered with, they are immediately repaired or replaced as needed.”
Pegler said on Tuesday that the building was already secured after the fire, and said the building will soon be demolished as part of redevelopment process.
I could smell the smoke clear across the mission. Negligent property owners and managers are a public health hazard
I think SFHA is more responsive than it was 10 years ago. I worked in those buildings when in college. Tom Wolfe wrote about them. I hope their replacement will provide tenants with more security, space, 2 elevators, and a roof terrace for drying the wash.
The guy who died in the fire back in January 25 deserves justice. The people who “self rescued” started that fire. I knew Richard. No way he just got stuck or couldn’t get out. He was killed, the fire was trying to cover it up.
Burn the hill fown