2:42 PM: Crews have controlled a three-alarm fire that burned in San Francisco’s Mission District this afternoon, a fire department employee said.
The blaze was reported at 12:34 p.m. at a two-story, dark green building at 1448/1450 Valencia St., between 25th and 26th streets.
The flames spread to the attic space of the EHS Pilates studio next door and a four-plex at 1442/1446 Valencia St., fire department spokeswoman Mindy Talmadge said.
A fourth building on Poplar Street, an alleyway that runs parallel to Valencia, was also damaged, Talmadge said.
Crews controlled the fire at 1:55 p.m. No injuries were reported.
Valencia Street remained closed between Cesar Chavez and 25th Street as of 2:25 p.m.
Kerri Myers said she was teaching a class at the studio, EHS Pilates, when she hard a banging sound coming from the back of the building along Poplar Street.
She looked out the window and saw flames, and everyone in the studio fled the building, she said.
Denise Hunley, a graduate student in clinical psychology who lives across the street, said she was sitting at her desk doing some work when she smelled smoke.
When she looked outside, she saw flames coming from the roof of the green building and watched several startled-looking people being evacuated. Hunley said she worried that there were elderly people or animals still inside the building.
She also noticed debris and embers from the fire floating across the street toward her house, and called her roommates to see if they had any important papers she should save if their home caught fire.
“I didn’t know how bad it was going to be,” said Hunley, who moved to San Francisco a couple of months ago from Chicago.
Talmadge said she does not yet know how many people were displaced, and the cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Jamey Padojino, Bay City News
1:39 PM: Firefighters are at the scene of a three-alarm fire that is burning in the city’s Mission District this afternoon.
The blaze was reported at 12:34 p.m. near 26th Street and Poplar Street, an alleyway that runs parallel to Valencia Street.
At least one building has been damaged in the fire, and fire crews are responding on both Poplar and Valencia streets.
As of 1:20 p.m., Valencia Street was closed between Cesar Chavez and 25th Street, and 26th Street was closed between Guerrero and Bartlett streets.
Air in the neighborhood was smoky, and fire department ladders were leaning against two buildings on Valencia Street—a residential building and a smaller building that houses a pilates studio—while crews battled the blaze.
Kerri Myers said she was teaching a class at the studio, EHS Pilates, when she hard a banging sound coming from the back of the building along Poplar Street.
She looked out the window and saw flames, and everyone in the studio fled the building, she said.
The fire is burning across Valencia Street from the Serra Mortuary.
Jamey Padojino, Bay City News
12:56 PM: San Francisco firefighters are at the scene of a three-alarm residential fire that is burning near St. Luke’s Hospital this afternoon, a fire department employee said.
The fire was reported at 12:34 p.m. at 26th and Poplar streets, near Valencia Street.
