3 Rescued From 2-Alarm Fire At Apartment Tower Near San Francisco State
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) – Residents have been displaced and an orange cat has gone missing in the wake of a fire near Lake Merced Park in San Francisco Friday morning, where crews are still investigating the scene of a two-alarm structure fire at a 13-story building.
Firefighters responded at 5:36 a.m. to a report of a fire at 125 Cambon Drive. Responding crews located a fire on the seventh floor of the building.
The fire quickly went to two alarms after flames completely engulfed the affected unit. Firefighters extended a ladder to rescue the three residents trapped inside the high-rise apartment.
By 7:24 a.m., the fire had been brought under control. A shelter-in-place order for the area was lifted shortly before that time.
Ankit Joshi is one of 5 people who live on the same floor in Apartment 7-H.
"There's a girl who lives there as part of the living room. I saw some smoke coming into my bedroom," remembered Joshi. "Once I came out of the bedroom, there was smoke everywhere in the living room."
Joshi said only three people were home when the fire started.
"In just a matter of minutes when we came down, there was a very big fire coming out of the window. So, everyone is terrified, trying to be ok with it," said Joshi.
Joshi told KPIX 5 that the fire early Friday morning was the third fire at the building within the past year.
Just a few months ago, a fire happened right across the hall from his place.
"It was just three or four months ago, in the same floor. Maybe a month ago, said Joshi. They just got done repainting the entire floor and everything."
Residents said the fire alarms in the building were working.
SF Fire said two of those people were being treated for injuries from the flames and smoke: one is in serious condition, the other suffered moderate injuries.
The fire victims are not believed to be SF State students.
A third victim had been reported, but firefighters later said that individual did not require medical care.
The fire department evacuated the sixth, seventh and eighth floors of the building, and the rest of the building was ordered to shelter in place. That order has since been lifted.
Firefighters said the fire has been put out, but crews are still assessing the situation.
Residents are being asked to avoid the area. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
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