A fire that broke out Halloween night at an apartment in Cow Hollow left one person dead and one injured, officials said.
The two-alarm blaze on the 1500 block of Filbert Street broke out on the third floor of a four-story building just before 9:30 p.m. Friday, according to the San Francisco Fire Department. Crews contained the fire in less than an hour. The department said there was evidence of “hoarder conditions.”
Two dogs and two cats were rescued from the 12-unit building. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
The deceased — whose body was found right outside Unit 6, where the fire started, and whose identity was not immediately available — was described by neighbors as a woman in her 50s.
“The fire was spreading to other apartments,” SFFD Chief Dean Crispen said in an interview from the scene posted on X. “But through the quick work of our members we were able to stop it from spreading to other apartments.”
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Tenants told CBS News the fire was avoidable.
Rebecca Boardman, who has been displaced by the fire, said in a tearful interview (opens in new tab) with the TV station that she and others tried for years to warn the city about a hoarding problem in Unit 6 — to no avail.
“The landlord couldn’t evict her. We couldn’t get her social worker [to] help,” Boardman told CBS. “These last few years have been a real battle that nobody could help us with because [the Unit 6 tenant] wouldn’t let them in and she wouldn’t accept help.”
Shari Nakamura told CBS she pointedly asked the Unit 6 resident whether she had a path for a fire exit and whether she was worried about her dog or her personal safety. The answer to each question, Nakamura said, was no.