Firefighter injured in three-alarm warehouse fire linked to marijuana operation

A DPW worker cleans up the damage from a building in the Bayview that was struck by fire on Thursday morning, injuring one firefighter. (Cindy Chew/The Examiner)

SAN FRANCISCO — Police are investigating whether a marijuana-growing operation may have sparked a Thursday morning warehouse blaze that seriously injured a paramedic-firefighter.

The man suffered major injuries after a flaming piece of building fell on him as he battled the three-alarm Bayview district fire.

On Thursday afternoon, police inspectors were at the site of the fire, waiting to collect evidence from the burnt-out warehouse,
San Francisco police Sgt. Lyn Tomioka said.

Officers’ suspicions about a possible marijuana-growing operation were raised when they discovered an illegal converter box bypassing the building’s electrical meter, Tomioka said. 

“Obviously the converter box makes us suspicious, but we haven’t determined it was anything criminal yet,” she said.

The injured firefighter, whose name has not been released, suffered a compound fracture to his leg and other injuries, San Francisco Fire Department spokeswoman Lt. Mindy Talmadge said. He was taken to San Francisco General Hospital, where he underwent surgery. He’s expected to survive.

Crews were called to the fire at 2265 Revere Ave. at 4:45 a.m. to find the warehouse engulfed in flames and the roof collapsed, Talmadge said.

A second alarm was called immediately. Within 11 minutes, it had become a three-alarm blaze.

The building was too dangerous to enter, fire officials determined.

The paramedic-firefighter was at the front of the hose line on the sidewalk outside the building when a piece of parapet wall, the decorative heading surrounding the building’s roof, fell forward and briefly trapped him.

Fellow crew members quickly freed him.

The injured man “will be recovering for a while,” Talmadge said.

No other injuries were reported, but 13 dogs at the neighboring High Tail Hotel were briefly taken out of the building and into waiting
vehicles.

“All the dogs were out and safe,” High Tail Hotel employee Ben Mansinne said. “They’re doing pretty good now. One of our foster dogs was a little shaken up, but she’s back in the playroom with everyone.”

Firefighters contained the fire by 6:43 a.m. and extinguished it by 7:30 a.m. Fire investigators remained at the site into the late morning, trying to determine the cause, Talmadge said.

tbarak@sfexaminer.com