A fire that started on the top floor of a two-story Mission District apartment Thursday night has displaced several residents and left two units at least temporarily uninhabitable, according to the San Francisco Fire Department.
One cat was also rescued from the scene, the department said. No one was injured.
At 8:32 p.m., San Francisco firefighters got a call for a one-alarm fire at 157 San Carlos St., a four-unit building on a four-block street that runs from 18th to 21st streets, between Mission and Valencia streets.
The fire started on the second floor of the building, and “water was on the fire” by 8:46 p.m., fire department spokesperson Lt. Mariano Elias said.
“The firefighters attacked the outside deck and then entered the building,” Elias said. A police officer on site said the conflagration was extinguished within 10 minutes.
The fire affected two units, Elias said. Firefighters rescued a cat, and “a few” residents will be displaced, he said. It is unclear how many or for how long, he said, as firefighters were still at the scene as of 10:40 p.m. inspecting the burned building.
About 30 firefighters, six fire trucks, and a medic were on site. Firefighters were breaking doors to enter the building and look inside.
Viola, 20-year resident at the building, said six people live there in four units. She said most of her belongings were still in the apartment, but that the firefighters “got my laptop and my purse and shoes” out in time.
Her unit did not appear to be affected by the fire, but might be “getting damaged” by the hoses and water, she said.
Victor Cervantes, an emergency response director at ServiceMaster Restoration Services, said his team would be there for the next four to five hours to assess the damage, “board up the property with plywood, and do any roof tarps.”
The building, he guessed, would be “deemed a total loss.”
Just what does “deemed a total loss” mean in this context? A small fire on the top floor would mean the lower two units would have at most water and forcible entry damage. The top floor has broken windows, maybe a hole in the roof, exterior damage to the deck and siding, and a bunch of smoke particles clinging to every surface. As a 4 unit building with long term renters, the rental income could be low, but there is no way the total costs of restoring the building to its prior condition is going to cost more than the value of the building, even separate from the value of the lot.
Perhaps this now uninhabitable and destroyed building will be a good candidate for Wiener’s upzoning?
Only if the low income residents are forced to leave the City.
Then it’s Wiener-grade.
FYI Wiener and the YIMBYs passed the state law requiring redevelopments to include deed restricted affordable units to match any demolished to allow for the development.
“Affordable units” means affordable to individuals making over 100k per year in this area, or 200k+ for couples and families. People under that threshold apparently aren’t considered “people” to Scott Wiener and his YIMBY gentrification coalition which uses propaganda and useful idiots to celebrate them being pushed out of the currently existing housing they can afford, all for a first crack at a smaller 3-4x priced unit they can’t possibly.
Well bravo. Housing crisis solved.
Given that it will take years to redevelop that site, any and all existing tenants will have found another place by then anyway.
“One cat was also rescued from the scene”
Don’t tell Waymo. Bloodthirsty parasites.
A cat ran under my car once as I was accelerating on a freeway on ramp. THUMP, THUMP… Does that make me a bloodthirsty parasite? Or are you just a histrionic lunatic? I was sad about it and remember it, even though it happened 44 years ago.