A four-alarm fire caused an estimated $3 million in damage to a stretch of businesses along Ocean Avenue in San Francisco’s Ingleside neighborhood Tuesday, a fire department spokeswoman said.
The blaze, reported at 5:50 a.m., damaged 10 businesses in the 1500 block of Ocean Avenue, fire spokeswoman Mindy Talmadge said.
A building containing three businesses–Happy Bakery and Deli, King’s Coffee & Tea and Lili Knit–was destroyed and will be torn down, while the city’s Department of Building Inspection determined the other adjacent businesses were repairable, according to Talmadge.
The fire was initially reported by residents on Southwood Drive, but when firefighters responded, they saw the flames were coming from the rear of the row of businesses on Ocean Avenue, fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White said.
Crews eventually extinguished the blaze at 7:29 a.m. after encountering dangerous conditions while fighting it, Hayes-White said.
Firefighters opened a door at one of the businesses, causing a backdraft that sent a burst of heat and smoke into the room, assistant fire Chief Tom Siragusa said.
Hayes-White said, “The conditions were challenging but the crews did a very good job.”
One firefighter suffered an irregular heartbeat while battling the blaze while another suffered a minor shoulder injury. Both firefighters have since been treated and released, Talmadge said.
Several of the homes on Southwood Drive were briefly evacuated because of the fire, and a fence separating the businesses from one of the residences was destroyed, Talmadge said.
She said the cause of the fire remains under investigation but does not appear to be suspicious.
Dan McMenamin, Bay City News
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