3 alarm fire on 2nd Avenue badly damages apartment building, displaces residents

Posted on by Sarah B.

Photo by David H.

Photo by David H.


A multi-unit three-story apartment building caught on fire this afternoon on 2nd Avenue between Geary and Anza. The first call came into the SFPD at 1:55pm.

Some residents were in the building when the fire broke out but were safely evacuated by firefighters.

ABC7 News reports:

    Firefighters were able to save the building on one side but the flames spread to the two-flat building on the other side, burning the edges of that building.

    They quickly snuffed out the fire, which was a difficult blaze because of the abundance of electrical wires overhead.

    “They had tough laddering conditions, as you can see. We face these difficulties a lot when we come to these buildings where we have the wires. That’s why we keep the wooden ladders. The wooden ladders are really important to us, so we don’t get shocked,” SFFD Deputy Chief Mark Gonzalez said.

The smoke from the fire could be seen from over a mile away, and traffic was badly snarled along Geary while firefighters worked. The fire was under control by 3pm.

There were no injuries and the cause of the fire is still unknown.

Sarah B.