Massive fire engulfs 3 commercial buildings in San Francisco
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SAN FRANCISCO — About 150 firefighters battled a massive blaze that raged through three buildings in San Francisco on Tuesday, sending a thick, black plume of smoke up to the sky and embers to a nearby freeway.
One southbound lane of Highway 101 was closed because of the blaze that was reported in a commercial building in the South of Market, or SOMA, neighborhood, the California Highway Patrol said.
People in neighboring buildings had to evacuate and power was knocked down because of the blaze, trapping several people in elevators in nearby buildings. There were no reports of injuries, the San Francisco Fire Department said.
Brian Bartfeld told KTVU that his family’s construction supply business, Bartfeld Sales Co., was on fire.
“The whole building is gone,” he said. He added that no one was in the building.
The business has been around since 1947 and contains many flammable materials, including building material, lumber, wooden palettes and cardboard boxes, he said.
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