Fire devoured a three-story residential building in the 700 block of Masonic Avenue in San Francisco early Monday morning.
Jess Marmor Shaw/The Chronicle
Fire engulfs a three-story residential building on Masonic Avenue in San Francisco on Monday morning.
San Francisco Fire Department
A fire destroyed a multiunit building in San Francisco’s Panhandle on Dec. 11, 2023.Jess Shaw
A fire early Monday morning in San Francisco’s Panhandle neighborhood charred three duplexes and left two people injured, one who leaped from a window, spokespeople for the Fire Department said.
At least 100 firefighters battled the flames that ignited at 3:45 a.m., devouring a three-story Edwardian building in the 700 block of Masonic Avenue, then spreading to homes on either side of it. The person who jumped out of a window sustained minor injuries, while a second victim had to be escorted out and evaluated by paramedics, said Lt. Mariano Elias, a Fire Department spokesperson.
A third person, apparently not involved in the fire, crossed the caution tape and attempted to climb a ladder truck, Elias said. Paramedics intervened and transported the person to a facility for a psychiatric evaluation.
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Fire devoured a three-story residential building in the 700 block of Masonic Avenue in San Francisco early Monday morning.
Jess Marmor Shaw
More than 40 other residents were evacuated to the John Adams campus of San Francisco City College, with assistance from Red Cross volunteers, according to San Francisco police incident logs.
Videos captured at the scene show the fast-moving fire charring the entire facade of the first building, which was undergoing construction, Elias said. Thick plumes of smoke choked the air as the fire gnawed through the building’s floors, causing them to partially collapse before it burned the two neighboring buildings.
As of 6 a.m., firefighters had largely quashed the blaze and were putting out spot fires that continued to smolder. Emergency responders had shut down Masonic Avenue between Grove and Hayes streets, and officials said the roads would likely remain closed for hours. Fire Department investigators were on the scene trying to determine what caused the fire.
Over the next several hours displaced residents began hauling their possessions onto the sidewalk. A bicycle and a pair of sneakers sat amid piles of bags and suitcases, and a woman emerged from one of the damaged homes with clothes dangling from a hanger. People began loading items into an SUV as passersby stopped to stare at the rubble.
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The burned building was a shell, gutted down to joists and beams. Contractors who arrived to work on the construction project milled around outside.
Firefighters battle a blaze at a residence on Masonic Avenue in San Francisco on Monday morning.
San Francisco Fire Department
Supervisor Dean Preston, who represents the area, visited the scene early Monday to speak with residents evacuated from buildings adjacent to the fire.
“They are obviously very shaken up and traumatized,” Preston said, noting that some residents had been allowed to return to their homes.
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Nora Mishanec contributed to this report.
Reach Rachel Swan: rswan@sfchronicle.com
