A four-alarm fire enveloped an India Basin warehouse Saturday evening, according to the San Francisco Fire Department (SFFD). The blaze was later contained by 11:35 p.m., though the destruction had already been done; the charred warehouse collapsed and a shouldering restaurant, Bonanza, sustained substantial damage.
Reported on by multiple local outlets — KPIX, ABC7, KTVU, SFGate, etc. — a four-alarm fire was reported at an India Basin warehouse before 8:49 p.m. last night, according to SFFD Lieutenant Jonathan Baxter. The building off Toland Street and Evans Avenue, which once housed tow trucks, spewed high flames and dense smoke clouds into the sky Saturday night, made worse by yesterday’s strong wind conditions. The blaze billowed smoke onto nearby Highway 280, prompting its abrupt closure, though the traffic lanes eventually opened that same night once the smoke began dying down around 10 p.m..
This is the aftermath of an intense warehouse fire in San Francisco’s Bayview District. It happened last night on Toland and Evans but we’re getting a better look at the damage now. Thankfully, no one was hurt. One building collapsed and the other will likely by torn down. @KTVU pic.twitter.com/B85xcw6Dft
— Sara Zendehnam (@szendehnam) March 1, 2020
Saturday night's breezy weather also managed to knock down nearby PG&E power lines, causing power outages around the south part of San Francisco and hampering the work of some 100 on-site firefighters, Baxter said to ABC7.
Fire in San Francisco pic.twitter.com/KCgb0Ptk3c
— Roger Fields (@rogerfields120) March 1, 2020
"We have live wires down,” Baxter spoke about last night's double-whammy scenario, one of the power line poles falling on SFFD fire fighting equipment. “We are aware of this and working aggressively with over 100 firefighters to get this contained.”
Thank you for keeping us safe, @SFFFLocal798. Your skill and professionalism are outstanding. #OurSFFD #SFFD #yourSFFD https://t.co/EWIpJJcULk
— Edie Schaffer, CEM (@sf_edie) March 1, 2020
PG&E soon rectified the problem, and the estimated twenty customers in the area of the fire that were without power had their lights back on by 1:45 a.m..
No injuries or deaths were reported from the fire; the restaurant owner managed to make it out safely. The two people who lived in the residential unit above the eatery — though reports are unclear if the restaurant owner was one of those two now safe souls — were also displaced, but both are now receiving assistance from the American Red Cross and San Francisco city services.
It’s not yet known how the blaze started, though SFFD is currently investigating the situation.
Related: Four-Alarm Fire Breaks Out In The Castro Above Q Bar And Osaka Sushi
Three-Alarm Fire Guts Warehouse In East Oakland
Image: Twitter via @SFFDPIO
