The father of a man who died in a fire at one of San Francisco’s last public housing projects blames the city for letting the property lapse into dangerous decay.
In a wrongful death lawsuit filed this week, Ralph Gescat says the Potrero Annex-Terrace complex was egregiously mismanaged, allowing it to become a literal death trap for his 40-year-old son Richard Gescat, who perished Jan. 25, 2023, in a blaze in an abandoned building at the site.
There are still many questions about the fire. The city has not revealed the results of its investigation into the cause, and it’s unclear why Richard Gescat was in the building. Mission Local reported that he was likely one of many squatters living on the property.
The lawsuit says the city’s medical examiner determined Gescat died from “[i]nhalation of toxic products of combustion and thermal injuries.”
Ralph Gescat, a Central Valley native who lives in Florida, declined to answer questions about his son.
His complaint blames the city, the Housing Authority, and Eugene Burger Management Corporation, which was hired to manage the complex before its demolition to make way for apartments.
Long before the fire killed Gescat, the lawsuit says, the Missouri Street buildings were “rife with criminal activity, broken windows, abandoned appliances, loose dogs, illegal drug use, mold and soot damage, missing roofing, and structural damage.”
Squatting was “so widespread and tolerated,” the suit alleges, that a Eugene Burger manager pocketed rent from as many as 20 tenants living illegally in units.
The complaint cites Housing Authority records showing that the complex failed 47 safety inspections in January 2023, the month of the fire. It says Eugene Burger flouted the Housing Authority’s requirement to fix “issues or defects threatening the life or safety of residents” within 24 hours.
The yearslong neglect made the buildings prone to “just such a foreseeable and tragic fire,” the lawsuit says.
“This is the most egregious situation that I’ve seen of this kind,” said David Gammill, the attorney representing Gescat. “It’s stranger than fiction, to be so derelict in their duty, to be so absent in their responsibilities.”
Officials from the city attorney’s office and San Francisco Housing Authority say they can’t speak to pending litigation; Burger Management didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The case is one of several involving the dozen or so buildings at Potrero Annex-Terrace. Federal officials recently gave the go-ahead to raze the development. Several former tenants — some with official Housing Authority leases; others who claim they were shaken down in an illegal rent scheme and didn’t know they were not officially on the books as residents — are fighting eviction in court.
The district attorney’s office is reportedly looking into the matter. The city recently wrapped an investigation into the alleged rent scam; the results have yet to be made public.
Some who lived in the project hope the Housing Authority will find a place for them in the new apartment complex planned for the site. Two months ago, officials signed off on a deal with Bridge Housing to build hundreds of homes — most of them market-rate — between Wisconsin Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, from 22nd to 25th streets.
But it’s unclear how long it will take those plans to materialize. The agreement with Bridge doesn’t specify, and market conditions could hold things up for years.
As officials try to proceed with demolition, the property remains a magnet for squatters and the source of other problems, including another fire in late September.