SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — Last October, a fast-moving fire tore through a 12-unit building in San Francisco’s Cow Hollow.
Residents say the blaze was preventable, and the city ignored repeated warnings about a tenant.
We took a look at the threat posed by hoarding and why some worry that budget cuts may put some in danger.
The fire was at 1550 Filbert Street and Van Ness Avenue. It displaced all of the residents and one person was killed.
The fire started in the kitchen, where, according to investigators, it quickly spread.
RELATED: 1 dead in San Francisco Cow Hollow apartment fire, officials say
Neighbors told us the victim had a severe hoarding disorder. Despite years of complaints to the city and the landlord, nothing was ever done.
“We do train on this daily in San Francisco, but we always say we thought we saw it all, and then we have the next fire which has hoarding conditions, and we’re absolutely shocked,” said San Francisco Fire Department Public Information Officer Jonathan Baxter.
Firefighters are supposed to include that information in their incident reports.
Last year, so-called “hoarder conditions” were mentioned in 15 SF Fire Department reports. There have been 58 reported since 2019.
But that may not be a full picture. The fire department said that information is often not included for fear of shaming the person, or it’s simple overlooked.
“We know what we’re responding to. We need to be more efficient on documenting what we’re responding to,” Baxter said.
In June 2011, Firefighters responded to a fire at a home in the Diamond Heights neighborhood. In the final report, there was no mention of hoarding conditions, but it clearly stated that “excessive live fuel load contributed to the growth of the fire.” Two San Francisco firefighters died in that fire.
In San Francisco, there is a lack of public awareness when it comes to hoarding.
TAKE ACTION: Get help with mental health issues
Ask Vera Oliver. She showed us pictures of her apartment almost entirely covered in stuff.
“This is the living room, but the bedroom was worse. I couldn’t even go in there. In the kitchen, I couldn’t cook nothing. I couldn’t get to the stove,” she said.
Lyanne Melendez: “When you look at those pictures, do you ask yourself who was this person?”
Vera Oliver: “Yeah, all the time.”
Admittedly, her motivating force to get help was the fear of being evicted. That happened when Oliver allowed her landlord to enter her apartment.
“And that’s what I was afraid of, that she would evict me, because it was a fire hazard. It was just terrible,” Oliver said.
Except that, what happened next changed her life.
“She told me, ‘San Francisco Mental Health Center is starting a new program for hoarders. If I sent you there, will you take advantage of the opportunity to straighten this out?’ And I said, ‘I promise I will.’ I wanted help, but I didn’t know where to go,” she said.
That was 12 years ago.
“The thing was Vera, she was willing to discard objects. Many of our folks are not willing to discard objects. And they can have all the helpers in the world, but the decision-making is very slow,” said Elizabeth Barr, a hoarding peer support specialist with the Mental Health Association of SF.
Barr has worked closely with Oliver because Barr learned how to control her own hoarding disorder. She works as a counselor for the Mental Health Association of San Francisco, one of the few and possibly the first in the nation to offer a peer-to-peer support program for hoarding disorders.
A 2009 report conducted by the San Francisco Task Force on Hoarding called for increased access to treatment, and a hoarding czar responsible for coordinating with city agencies.
“The main thing I’d love from the city is mula. We need more money for services,” Barr said.
Except that, the health commission is considering cuts to mental health services in the city.
The Mayor Daniel Lurie’s office projects a $936 million citywide budget deficit in the next two years.
“What our department does, and I say this with all sincerity, is that we help people to retain their housing and that has to count for something,” Barr said.
In the case of the fire at 1550 Filbert Street, residents say the city failed them as well. They are still unable to move back in.
If you or a loved one needs help, email PeerSupportServices@MentalHealthSF.org or call (510) 306-4527.
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