Yesterday's five-alarm fire on Mission Street between 22nd and 23rd has left two buildings destroyed. As seen in the above photos, courtesy of Onpublico, the sidewalks are littered with scorched merchandise from discount stores Big House Inc (2632 Mission Street), where the fire started around 1 p.m., and New Mission City (2626 Mission Street), where the fire spread. It took firefighters about three hours to contain the blaze.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but NBC Bay Area reports that Big House Inc had been cited for fire code violations in 2009 and 2013, according to SFFD Chief Joanne Hayes-White. In both instances, the store passed follow-up inspections.

A neighbor tells NBC that Big House Inc was teeming with inventory: "There's hundreds of tons of fabric, clothing piled on top of piles, on top of piles to the ceiling," Lorene Scripps said. "I stopped going in there because it's a hazard waiting to happen — someone is going to get killed in there."

Injuries caused by the fire were minimal, as the Examiner reports, with three people hospitalized for smoke inhalation, including one firefighter.

[Onpublico]
[NBC Bay Area]
[Examiner]