San Francisco fire crews responded to a three-alarm blaze yesterday at the corner of Turk and Taylor streets in the Tenderloin. Photos by Luke Thomas.
By Luke Thomas
June 18, 2010
One hundred and twenty three people have been made homeless following a fire yesterday atop a halfway house in the Tenderloin.
The three-alarm fire, first reported to emergency services at 5:45 pm, was extinguished by the heroic efforts of the San Francisco Fire Department at approximately 7 pm.
One resident was taken to San Francisco General Hospital for smoke inhalation.
Total damage to the property located at 111 Taylor Street is estimated at $350 thousand, according to SFFD spokesperson Mindy Talmedge. The property owner is listed as Cornell Companies.
The displacees are being housed by the Red Cross at Eugene Friend Recreation Center, said Red Cross spokesperson Melanie Finke.
Though no official cause of the fire has been established, American Roofing Company was making repairs to the roof when the fire started. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Luke Thomas
Luke Thomas is a former software developer and computer consultant who proudly hails from London, England. In 2001, Thomas took a yearlong sabbatical to travel and develop a photographic portfolio. Upon his return to the US, Thomas studied photojournalism to pursue a career in journalism. In 2004, Thomas worked for several neighborhood newspapers in San Francisco before accepting a partnership agreement with the SanFranciscoSentinel.com, a news website formerly covering local, state and national politics. In September 2006, Thomas launched FogCityJournal.com. The BBC, CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox News, New York Times, Der Spiegel, San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Magazine, 7x7, San Francisco Examiner, San Francisco Bay Guardian and the San Francisco Weekly, among other publications and news outlets, have published his work. Thomas is a member of the Freelance Unit of the Pacific Media Workers Guild, TNG-CWA Local 39521 and is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists.
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June 22, 2010 at 2:50 pm
This is scary stuff. Who are these inept contractors that are permitted to basically hold our lives in their hands? And, I agree about a Compton tribute and new cafeteria.
June 19, 2010 at 4:46 pm
Bravo Paul!
June 19, 2010 at 11:09 am
AMERICAN ROOFING COMPANY was doing the work? This same company has been doing electrical upgrade work at a nearby Tenderloin apartment complex (641 O’Farrell.) DBI pulled their permit on the property, and DBI had to come and put a stop work order on the premises because they were still doing (now unpermitted) electrical work there. They also had an electrician working on the site whose license had been revoked.
As for 111 Taylor, I’m really sorry that the occupants have been displaced, but we’ve been arguing for years that the last thing Turk & Taylor needs is a privately-run prison complex for recent parolees. After the fire, I hope it reopens as a permanent housing complex for long-term tenants which would be a positive and needed thing.
Besides, the building was the site of the 1966 Compton Cafeteria Riots. It should be reopened with a meaningful tribute to that history. And let’s reopen with a cafeteria on the first floor to better serve the community.
June 19, 2010 at 7:14 am
I guess the temperature of the fire was not hot enough, and the height of the building was not tall enough to resemble the destruction of the 110 story NYC twin towers (gone in about 12 seconds), and the 47 story WTC 7 (that came down in about 6 seconds).