A fire in a six-story affordable-housing building in the Tenderloin on Tuesday night displaced 41 adults, five minors, and three dogs.
No one was injured, according to the San Francisco Fire Department.
At 11:14 p.m. on May 12, San Francisco firefighters got the first of what would become several phone calls for a fire at 285 Turk St. The original report saw smoke billowing from the roof from two blocks away.
The fire started in a second-floor light well that runs from the second floor all the way to the roof.
The fire “travelled vertically and then it got into the walls and travelled all the way up,” according to fire department spokesperson Lt. Mariano Elias.
Firefighters spent the late evening and early morning hours demolishing walls on every floor of the fire to find the hidden flames that had travelled up four stories.
Firefighting personnel were on the scene until 2:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning.
“It is a very destructive fire, not necessarily because of the flames, but because of the destruction that you need to do to find the fire hidden inside the walls,” said Elias.
The Red Cross is currently assisting displaced persons with housing.
Two days after the fire, the San Francisco Human Services Agency said most residents were allowed to return to undamaged units on Wednesday night. The agency and the Red Cross are still assisting residents of 13 units who were unable to return.
This piece was updated with information about tenants who returned to the building.
Yo vivo en este edificio fuimos obligados a regresar a vivir aquí el lugar era inevitable y contaminación de muchos residuos y humo 💨