Two women rushed into Tony’s Market and Liquor Store, Friday morning, begging the sitting employee, Sam, for water. “They said, ‘Hurry up, ‘hurry up,'” Sam recalled. “At first, I thought she was rude, and later, I understood: She was rushing.”
A white sedan caught on fire on 24th Street this morning, across the street from the liquor store, according to videos provided by a reader who captured a BMW engulfed in flames as it sat on the corner.
In an initial video, taken near 8:20 a.m., fire shoots up from the car’s front seats as it sits on the corner of 24th and Hampshire streets, outside an apartment building. A second video shows the blaze quickly consuming the vehicle and spewing smoke high into the air. An ambulance arrives on scene shortly thereafter.
Maria Garcia, the neighbor who filmed the incident from an apartment nearby, said she “heard a little explosion,” and then “saw the smoke” from her window. An employee at Dagwood & Scoops, a sandwich shop across the street from the burning car, also heard an explosion earlier this morning.
The woman and her daughter were driving the car when it started smoking, they allegedly told the liquor store employee, Sam. One of the women told him the car was her father’s.
“I saw the car smoke all over, and then I saw the fire,” Sam said. “It was getting bigger and bigger. I was scared for the building.”
The women attempted to put out the fire until the fire department arrived, Sam said, which took about 20 minutes, by his count. A worker at Dynamo Donut + Coffee said he saw the car smoking, and believed it had overheated. The driver parked it on the south side of 24th Street in a rush.
There appeared to be no other damage, nor injuries to the driver and passenger.
Captain Jonathan Baxter, the spokesperson for the San Francisco Fire Department, said that he did not have record of the fire, meaning there were no injuries associated with it, and that it was a police matter.
The San Francisco Police Department said officers responded at about 8:40 a.m., after firefighters had extinguished the flames and canvassed the scene for witnesses or victims, but did not find any. The cause of the fire is under investigation, the department said, and no injuries were reported.
At about 9:45 a.m., the charred car was being towed away.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
“Jonathan Baxter, the spokesperson for the San Francisco Fire Department, said that he did not have record of the fire, meaning there were no injuries associated with it and that it was a police matter.”
This sounds so strange. The fire dept responds to extinguish fires. Police respond to fires as well, to assist with traffic control, evacuations, and things like that. If it’s arson, there’s a joint sfpd/sffd task force that investigates.
The idea that the sffd does not have a record of fires they respond to that don’t cause injuries seems ridiculous and highly implausible.
Yes, strange and false. Here is the summary information. Full report to follow:
Incident Number 23161743
Call Date 12/1/2023
Call Received 12/1/2023, 8:23 AM
Dispatched 12/1/2023, 8:24 AM
On Scene 12/1/2023, 8:27 AM
Response Interval 3.27
Met Response Criteria Y
Available Time 12/1/2023, 8:55 AM
Number of Alarms 1
Disposition FIR
Bsttalion B06
Station Area 09
Supervisor District
Final Priority 3-Emergency
Number of Units 2
Total Deaths 0.00
Total Injuries 0.00
Total Displaced 0.00
Total Loss ($) 0.00
Record Last Updated 12/1/2023, 9:00 AM
Cars don’t just spontaneously burst into flames when overheating. The primary source of ignition is in that interior. Notice there are no flames coming from under the hood. They had something very flammable in that car. Or at least, that’s what my inner armchair arson investigator is saying.
At least not an encampment going up in flames for a change
“Women”? Is fighting car fires now a feminist issue?