Results tagged “fire”

ABC7 is reporting on a string of 10 car fires that broke out early this morning, beginning with multiple locations along San Pablo Dam Road in Richmond (that's the City of Richmond, not *the* Richmond where the SF carsonist frequently struck). Police seem to already be honing in on a suspect, and unlike the SF carsonist, this one was a little more aggressive and a little less wily. Assuming this is a different carsonist, what is it about 2009 that makes this the era of car fires?

Just a little before 6 a.m. this morning, SFFD got a report of smoke coming out of a manhole at Battery and Pine in downtown San Francisco. When they got there, they found (another!) vault fire. According to Appeal, "PG&E is saying that initial reports suggest that 'a cable failed' which 'produced a little smoke.' They expect the area to remain a work site (that is, a big PG&E truck and workers are in the line of traffic), but all streets have been reopened."

A seemingly massive four-alarm house fire is roaring in Tiburon right now. If you work near the Golden Gate Bridge (or, of course, on the other side of it), you might be able to see smoke stemming from the hill. According to NBC Bay Area, "[t]he fire went from two to three to four alarms in a matters of minutes" and it's burning at 116 Lyford Drive.

A little early for breakfast (7 p.m. last night), a two-alarm fire broke out at 360 Post on Union Square, otherwise known as the Tiffany's building, whose upper floors are home to various office and doctor-type tenants. The fire is said to have been in the basement of the eleven-story building and was contained within a half hour. No word on how many little robin's egg blue boxes were destroyed, or how long Tiffany's might need to be closed.

Another car was lit ablaze, this one over in the Sunset district. Over at Irving Street at Great Highway last night, authorities responded to a report of a small vehicle fire at 9 p.m.-ish. The car fire was put out immediately. No word as to who or what started the blaze. Pot busts and car fires, a regular feature in the Sunset. Alas.

According to KRON 4 News, a restaurant is on fire at 919 Kearny, between Drummond and Jackson Streets. Columbus is backed up to the tunnel. "Traffic is a nightmare" in the area. The block is pretty much closed off. No word yet of any injuries.

Have no fear if you're walking down Second Street between Folsom and Harrison, just around the corner from SFist World HQ. That long line of fire engines hogging all the parking meters isn't responding to a ten alarm disaster, nor the opening of a new Hooters.

One hundred and fifty firefighters from around Solano County and CalFire are on the scene battling a six-alarm fire west of Vacaville near the Lagoon Valley Regional Park this morning. Flames were first spotted around 1:30 a.m. in the area of Pleasant Valley and Cherry Glen Roads, near I-80. Four hundred acres had burned by 5 a.m., and 50 percent of the fire was contained by 6:45 a.m. Full containment is expected later today. No one has been injured, and evacuations are not expected. The Cherry Glen Road off-ramp of I-80 has been closed indefinitely to accommodate responding fire crews and equipment.

After a rare four-alarm fire ripped through seven warehouses in San Francisco's Bayview district yesterday (check out photos of the inferno here), firefighters finally contained the blaze last night. According to Appeal/BCN, and most harrowing of all, "[m]arijuana was found growing in one of the buildings," which was presumably torched beyond recognition. No word yet what caused the fire.

              

Plug1 was on the scene at this morning's four-alarm fire at Wallace and Jennings in the Bayview District. The blaze started at 11 a.m. and engulfed five warehouses, nearly an entire block. Today has unfortunately been a busy one for firefighters.

SFist reader Jomo sent in this shot of a fire happening in Cole Valley/Haight on the 200 block of Frederick between Ashbury and Clayton. According to Emergency_In_SF, it's a three-alarm fire.

              

We just got word that there is a rather large roaring in the financial district. Or, as our tipster informed us, there's a "[b]ig ass fire in the Financh right now." Oh dear. "Sirens everywhere, smoke smellable all over Embarcadero Center," we're told

A one-alarm fire charred Chow for about "35 minutes" until San Francisco firefighters put it out around 6:30 a.m. this morning, according to Appeal. "Preliminary reports indicate the blaze ignited in a flue in the structure." What does this mean for you, Chow fans? It means you'll have to wait at least two weeks. Eater has word that the popular Castro restaurant "will definitely be shuttered for 'at least a couple weeks.'" If you can't wait to digest Chow's popular fare, you can also visit their Sunset location.

You want another car fire? Well, we've got another car fire for you. An auto was set ablaze early this morning outside the Oakland Hills home of UC President Mark Yudof. The fire was started sometime before 2 a.m., and the bomb squad was also called in since it was right across the street from where the UC President lives. No arrests have been made. Yudof's home, as many of you know, has played host to a myriad of protests in the past, most recently due to UC budget cuts.

Although a 62-year-old homeless woman named Fafa Chan is considered the prime suspect in last month's auto fires, and also in that string of porta-potty fire earlier this year, a car fire erupted early this morning. It seems, according to reports, someone "set a book on fire and placed it underneath a rear tire of a Honda Accord near the corner of 21st Avenue and Balboa Street"in the Richmond around 3:15 a.m. Which is interesting. Anyway, no injures were reported, no arrests were made.

While containment is now at 65%, the mandatory evacuation for residents affected by the Bonny Doon wildfire in the Santa Cruz mountains has been lifted. All residents need to get back inside their home if proof of residency. Hurray! But that, of course, doesn't mean the blaze is over. According to KCBS / AP, "crews were unable to fight the blaze by air Sunday because of heavy smoke, but more than 2,100 firefighters made progress on the ground along the western and southern ends of the wildfire." As of today, the fire, which sparked last Wednesday, scorched 7,000 acres, injured five, and cost over $10 million in damages.

      

More than 2,400 residents are under a mandatory evacuation as the Bonny Doon wildfire continues to singe over 4,100 acres. So far, the blaze has torched two unidentified structures. As of 9 a.m. today, a scan 5% of the blaze has been contained. According to Cal Fire, reports the Santa Cruz Sentinel, "the blaze started [on Wednesday] near the Lehi Camp, a Mormon retreat at the top of Empire Grade, and the Lockheed Martin facility."

Hundreds of residents have fled their homes after a Santa Cruz county wildfire in Bonny Doon started last night. According to CBS 5, "authorities have ordered mandatory evacuations for about 600 people on Last Chance Road, Swanton Road, Warrella Truck Trail and Rancho del Oso." (Although according to KRON 4 Morning News, said evacuations are voluntary) Evacuations center can be found at "Pacific Elementary School located at 50 Ocean St. in the community of Davenport, and the American Red Cross has established a shelter at Vintage Faith Church located at 350 Mission St. in Santa Cruz." So far, 2,300 acres have been consumed since the fire sparked a little after 7 p.m. last night.

Late yesterday morning, a three-alarm fire in North Beach tore through four units on the 600 block of Green Street (also known as Beach Blanket Babylon Boulevard), next door to the famed Beach Blanket Babylon theater. (The theater was unscathed, with show performances, for better for for worse, being unaffected by the blaze.) Although the fire was controlled less than an hour after firefighters arrived, it managed to displace six residents and cause around $1.35 million worth of damage. No injuries were reported.

Eye On Blogs' Brittney Gilbert caught images of a fire burning in Noe Valley this morning.

First, it's no longer the Auto Arsonist, it's "Carsonist" (TM: Eve Batey) which is way radder sounding. Second, he or she took the night off. The person(s) responsible for at least 12 car fires since Saturday didn't strike last night. (One possible reason? A female arsonist was arrested last night at the Transbay Terminal, but police have yet to connect her to the car torches, so we cannot hand her the carsonist sash and tiara just yet.) But if you know anything about this week's rash of auto fires, please call the SFPD.

Last night, four more cars were immolated during the wee hours of the night. A little before 11:30 p.m. in the Bayview neighborhood at Newcomb Avenue and Selby Street, a car was lit ablaze. However, San Francisco Fire Department spokeswoman Mindy Talmadge claimed that the Bayview incident wasn't related to the alleged Auto Arsonist. But the next three fires probably are. Two vehicles were "found on fire at Francisco and Powell streets in North Beach at 2 a.m.," SFGate reported. And, at around 3:25 a.m., "a Honda was found burning at La Playa and Balboa streets near Ocean Beach." This brings the total number of singed automobiles to 11 since Saturday. The is starting to get scary.

A total of seven cars in San Francisco were set ablaze since Saturday. Early this morning, according to CBS 5/KCBS, "Arson investigators responded to the scene of two early morning car fires in San Francisco," one in the Outer Richmond and another in the Western Addition. Also, a pickup truck was torched at 29th and Geary, bringing this morning's total to three. While it's still too early to determine whether the injured autos, a minivan and Volvo station wagon, are related to the other four immolated autos that happened over the weekend, it sure does look suspicious. Cars were previously set on fire, starting on Saturday, at 3 a..m in the Financial District on the 200-block of California Street, between Battery and Front streets; Saturday night at Franklin and Fern streets; Sunday morning at Van Ness Avenue and Olive Street near the Civic Center; and Monday at around 2:30 a.m. on 12th Street near South Van Ness Avenue. No word yet if the Auto Arsonist and the Toilet Torcher, the pyro who torched porta-potties in early 2009, are the same person, but hopefully not. We don't care much for crossover arsonists. (Har.)

We received an alert from the handy AlertSF.org (where were you, Emergency_In_SF?!) that there was another underground fire that occurred several hours ago in the Civic Center area, on Polk Street between Grove and McAllister, which has been closed to traffic. PG&E might need to cut power while authorities investigate. The air reportedly smelled like burned plastic, but there was no visible smoke. A hot dog vendor at Civic Center Plaza reported seeing smoke coming from a manhole, but he didn't hear an explosion.

A massive four-alarm fire on Cabot Road near Allerton Avenue torched the San Francisco Sausage Company building, the Columbus Salami company's slicing plant. Luckily, all 30 overnight employees escaped unharmed. The blaze went up around 2 a..m. today, burning for more than five hours. According to reports, "firefighters from numerous mutual aid fire departments are responding, including Foster City, Daly City, South San Francisco, San Mateo and Burlingame." No word yet on what caused the fire, exactly.

              

Oh man, not some hippie Burning Man-ish art thing," you whine? Yes, another hippie Burning Man-ish art thing! Why? Because: fire. And lots of it. See, this weekend the annual Fire Arts Festival immolated on Saturday at the Crucible, gloriously. The annual festival "celebrates creativity through fire and light with a spectacular open-air exhibition of interactive fire art, performance and the largest collection of outdoor fire sculpture on the West Coast."

Oh yikes, folks. According to our increasingly favorite Twitter account to follow, Emergency_In_SF, they've got word (via timmysanfran) that there's a fire, possibly caused by an explosion, at Market (near Fourth Street) next to the massive Ross store.

     

What in God's name is this all about, select participant(s) who engaged in fire play during Friday's end-of-month ride, but by no means represent Critical Mass or the tireless work that they do as a whole?

Former SFister Dianne de Guzman sent word about a block shutdown this morning. "Firefighter activity at Mission near Ocean. The block is shut down. About 3-4 trucks. No visible flames. Firefighters on roof with axes. Couldn't see which business they were on."

With the second major underground fire in four years roaring last Friday -- spectacularly so, we might add -- Mayor Gavin Newsom wants some answers from PG&E. If you recall, in August 2005, an underground PG&E vault blaze occurred in the Financial District, critically injuring a passerby. That fire, according to CBS 5, "was caused by high levels of moisture in the oil inside the high-voltage chambers on the transformer." A follow-up investigation reveals that five additional transformers within in San Francisco "had high moisture levels" as well. Anyway, Newsom claims to be unhinged by last week's manhole blaze, saying. "I've been at this a lot as mayor of San Francisco, some more problematic events, not just this event. We'll work through them." PG&E promises a thorough investigation. Polk Street at O'Farrell remains closed for investigation.