10:37 AM: Muni Diaries is reporting that Muni lines in the area of the fire are being rerouted. We’ve emailed MTA spokesperson Judson True to get any service changes, and will keep you posted.
As you can imagine, traffic in the area is a disaster — one report we’ve received says Broadway, as well a Columbus, Jackson, and of course Kearny are traffic disasters. So if you’re driving, avoid avoid avoid!
9:30 AM: And the Nanking dissing begins (well, not begins, people have been dissing it for years), as eddo says “BURN BABY BURN” in response to the news that it’s adjacent to, if not damaged by, this morning’s fire on Kearny. (Arnold Gatilao concurs, asking “the silver lining?”) Full disclosure: my husband and I had our first date at Nanking, so I’m inclined to be a bit sentimental about it. But it also kind of sucks (the restaurant, not the marriage, hi honey!), and its popularity is kind of confounding. Amirite?
9:11 AM: Friend of the Appeal Scott Bloom reports back, saying:
The fire was in full swing when I reached the scene at about 8:40 a.m. An SFFD ladder was already extended, the sidewalk appeared crowded with residents of the building. There are several restaurants on the ground floor (including, I think, House of Nanking–not sure about that one). The DPT was diverting traffic off of Kearny at Washington. The smell of burned materials is all over the north side of the Financial District.
Out tipster’s right: The notorious tourist trap Chinese joint’s located 919 Kearny. Sorry, Wisconsin! Not today!
9:05 AM: We just got off the phone with SFFD spokesperson Lt. Mindy Talmidge, who says the fire began in Matcha, a sushi restaurant at 915 Kearny. It then extended into the liquor store next door at 911 Kearny, then spread up into the residential units next door (Talmidge did not have an exact address for the apartment building).
She says the number of residents displaced by the fire has yet to be determined, but that “everyone got out safely,” with no injuries reported.
In terms of street closures, Talmidge says “there’s no traffic coming down Kearny,” and that Jackson and Columbus are also closed in the blocks east and west of where they intersect with Kearny.
8:54 AM: Tipster and friend of the Appeal Scott Bloom reports a “major fire at Kearny Street. Two alarms, residents of an apartment appear displaced” and sent the pictures you see above. We’re getting more details now, so stay tuned — but definitely avoid the area, which looks to be in the Columbus-Broadway area.
Photos: Scott Bloom
