Fire displaces residents of O’Farrell Street building

Around two dozen Tenderloin residents were displaced by a fire that tore through the apartments at 675 O’Farrell St. in late May.

The San Francisco Fire Department received multiple calls about the fire at 6:40 p.m. on May 22 and arrived quickly, getting it under control within 10 minutes, according to a post on the department’s Facebook page. Nevertheless, tenants say none of them have been able to move back into any of the units. 

David Lewis described the shock of learning his building was ablaze.

“I stopped everything I was doing. I raced back home, only to smell the smoke and see all of my neighbors out there on the sidewalk being interviewed by the police,” he said.

Residents have been deeply dismayed about looting at the building. Two tenants said that when their neighbors were briefly allowed back in to retrieve essential belongings, they saw evidence that their units had been broken into and looted. 

Lewis recalled how he’d felt on the night of the fire, as he sat in a Muni bus that the city had brought to the scene to shelter displaced tenants from the weather.

“Staying warm while the Red Cross interviewed us one by one and told us where to go, I felt a little bit of security, I felt like I was being taken care of — only to discover the next morning that feeling of total helplessness and violation knowing people were able to get into my building,” Lewis said. “I wasn't sure if I was more hurt by the fire, or if I was more hurt by the people who were so senseless and uncaring to steal one’s belongings after that terrible event.”

When I visited the building four days after the incident, I found a first-floor window left open, and windows on higher floors broken and unboarded. The only barriers to entry on the ground level appeared to be padlocked chains to hold the front gate closed. 

The city’s Human Services Administration said in a statement that its staff, together with the American Red Cross, had helped the residents of 21 units by placing them in temporary housing — records show there are 25 units in the building. Lewis confirmed that residents have been offered hotel stays, which have been extended each week as the building’s owners work toward determining the timeline for repairs. It’s unclear how long displaced tenants will receive housing assistance.

An online copy of a notice issued by the Department of Building Inspection described the building as unsafe, with water and smoke damage, broken doors and windows, and water and power shut off the night of the fire. As of Tuesday evening, no unsafe building notice was visible on the entrance, and lights were on inside. Since the fire, Lewis said that repairs have begun and that more tenants have been allowed to retrieve belongings.

Calls and emails to the apparent property management company were not returned. 

A fire department spokesperson said the cause of the fire was determined to be accidental. A department incident report describes it as an electrical fire.

The incident at 675 O’Farrell St. was the second apartment fire in the neighborhood that month. On May 12, a blaze at 285 Turk St. displaced 46 residents, though all but 13 were able to return to undamaged units a few days later. 

Meanwhile, nearly six months after a fire devastated the residential building at 50 Golden Gate Ave., those residents have not been allowed to move back in due to severe damage.