Fire

Burned-Out Mission Street Shops to Be Torn Down

If you’ve been by the site of yesterday’s five-alarm fire at 22nd and Mission, this news likely comes at no surprise: the building is slated for an emergency demolition, possibly taking place later today. Via ABC 7:

San Francisco firefighters continue to monitor flare-ups in the rubble. Because this space was used for storage, they expect more flare-ups once they are allowed to move through the debris inside. Engineers say it still is not safe to enter. San Francisco fire officials describe the building as, “dangerous and heavily compromised in both structure and integrity.”

“I would say 95 percent of the roof either burned off or fell through into the building. We also have what appears to be a second floor or mezzanine collapse down to the first floor. And we have a problem with two barring walls on the exterior, also the front wall is cracked and we’re worried about that possibly falling off into mission street,” explained Assistant Chief David Franklin.

While the size of the pile of debris pulled out of the building isn’t completely visible from the first picture, it is sizable. And burned remains of cheap, imported goods is visibly stacked to the ceiling:

Exhausted-looking firemen were still battling the blaze late into the night, with two hoses spraying down the building as of 11pm last night—some ten hours after the fire broke out.

According to ABC 7, the building had been previously cited for its poor conditions:

The fire chief said the business where the fire started has been cited twice in 2009 and 2013 for overcrowded conditions and narrow exit routes, but could not say at this point if clutter contributed to the fire.

That fact is fueling the rumors that this was an act of arson, although it is both premature and impossible to know what happened.  It was previously reported that an arson team would investigate the building, but because of the imminent risk of collapse, they couldn’t enter the structure. Now, it seems, a complete investigation is unlikely, as the remains will be little more than rubble by the end of the weekend.

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Reminder: when you see an SFFD fireman or firewoman, tip your cap and say thank you. That fire was no joke. Given the breeze and density of the area, they did a kick-ass job. Respect.

CRICKET. CRICKET