About 68 people were displaced from a Tenderloin apartment building after a large, 3-alarm sixth floor fire early Friday morning.
The few dozen residents temporarily sheltered in a Muni bus, and were eventually taken to a nearby church, according to the San Francisco Fire Department and a resident.ย
The fire began on the top floor of the six-story building at 50 Golden Gate Ave. just after 3 a.m. While the fire spread to the attic and roof, the fire department said that more than 100 firefighters at the scene prevented it from moving to lower floors or nearby buildings.ย
Multiple occupants and six cats were rescued, but no injuries were reported.
Panfilo Perez Garcia, 51, said he woke up to his roommate banging on his door and quickly evacuated the smoke-filled building. He didnโt bring any of his belongings.
โIโm alive,โ he said in Spanish. โThatโs the most important thing.โ
Perez Garcia has lived in a rent-controlled unit in the building for some 20 years, and returned this afternoon to grab some money and a few articles of clothing. He said his unit looked fine, but heโs not sure when he can return โ and he was told he could not take most of his things away with him.
โIt is what it is,โ Perez Garcia says, shrugging with a bundle of clothes under his arm, vacillating between upbeat and somber.
He canโt stay at the shelter with his roommate, because itโs too far from his restaurant job on Market Street, so for now, heโs paying out of pocket for a room at a hotel run by one of his regular customers.ย
โI donโt know what to do now,โ he said. โIโm very sad.โ
As he walked down the street around 1 p.m., various passersby recognized him. Switching between Spanish and English, he let them know: โIt’s gone, my building, brother!โ or โHola hijo, se quemรณ el edificio!โ
The department said the buildingโs age โ records show it was built in 1911 โ made stopping the fire difficult. A firefighter said the building has no sprinklers, a requirement in newer buildings, and hoses had to be carried up for water to reach the upper floors.
The fire was contained by 5:30 a.m., two and a half hours after firefighters arrived on the scene.
โThis incident exemplified traditional, aggressive firefighting tactics, which ultimately contained the fire within the structure,โ read a statement from the fire department.
The number of people displaced was updated from 45 to 68, based on a new statement from the fire department.
Please reach out to the Cityโs displaced tenants programs! You can get a voucher that substantially boost your priority in affordable housing lotteries and there are temporary housing subsidies that help cover costs. https://www.sf.gov/learn-about-displaced-tenant-housing-preference-dthp
I am thrown that these older buildings were not required to add sprinklers at some point…..
I read the fire started in an attic space so it’s not clear sprinklers would stop that anyway. Water damage can be even worse than fire damage in small fires. The cost of retrofitting old buildings is a sizeable fraction of the cost of building a new structure and all tenants would have to leave for literally years. Most would not return and the new rents may not be comparable. So it’s a lot to consider.