A fire that started on the top floor of a two-story Mission District apartment on Thursday night has displaced several residents and left two units at least temporarily uninhabitable, according to the San Francisco Fire Department.
One cat was also rescued from the scene, the department said. No one was injured.
At 8:32 p.m., San Francisco firefighters got a call for a one-alarm fire at 157 San Carlos St., a four-unit building on a four-block street that runs from 18th to 21st, between Mission and Valencia streets.
The fire started on the second floor of the building, said fire department spokesperson Lt. Mariano Elias, and “water was on the fire” by 8:46 p.m.
“The firefighters attacked the outside deck and then entered the building,” Elias said. A police officer on site said the conflagration was extinguished within 10 minutes.
The fire, Elias said, affected two units. Firefighters rescued a cat, he said, and “a few” residents will be displaced. It is unclear how many or for how long, he said, as firefighters were still at the scene as of 10:40 p.m. inspecting the burned building.
About 30 firefighters, six fire trucks, and a medic were on site. Firefighters were breaking doors to enter the building and look inside.
Viola, 20-year resident at the building, said six people live there in four units. She said most of her belonging were still in the apartment, but that the firefighters “got my laptop and my purse and shoes” out in time.
Her unit did not appear to be affected, she said, but might be “getting damaged” by the hoses and water.
Victor Cervantes, an emergency response director at ServiceMaster Restoration Services, said his team would be there for the next four to five hours to assess the damage, “board up the property with plywood and do any roof tarps.”
The building, he guessed, would be “deemed a total loss.”