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Fire Destroys Warehouse on San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf

Associated Press

   SAN FRANCISCO - A fire engulfed a warehouse on San Francisco's
   Fisherman's Wharf early Saturday, sending thick smoke over the
   waterfront and threatening to spread to a historic World War II-era
   ship before firefighters brought the flames under control.

   One firefighter sustained a hand injury while battling the fire at the
   warehouse the size of a football field on Pier 45, San Francisco Fire
   Lieutenant Jonathan Baxter said.

   Baxter said that after the fire subsided, investigators scoured the
   building to determine whether homeless people were inside.

   "That is something of grave concern," he told KGO-TV. "To our knowledge
   ... nobody is supposed to be in the building and we are hoping ... that
   there is no victim."

   At least two workers told the San Francisco Chronicle they were inside
   the fish processing and storage warehouse when the fire broke out
   before dawn.

   Alejandro Arellano, who works for La Rocca Seafood, was cleaning out a
   fish storage locker when the fire began, shortly after 4 a.m.

   "I saw a lot of smoke. A few minutes later, fire everywhere," he said.
   "It was very, very scary. I've never seen anything like it."

   Firetruck threatened

   The fire tore through the warehouse near the end of the concrete pier,
   causing its walls to collapse, Baxter said. The flames singed the first
   firetruck to respond to the scene, forcing firefighters to turn their
   hoses on the vehicle to save it, he said.

   More than 130 firefighters fought the flames, with some using ladder
   trucks to drench the warehouse from above. A fire boat was used to
   protect the SS Jeremiah O'Brien, a liberty ship that stormed Normandy
   on D-Day in 1944.

   "Our firefighters absolutely saved the SS Jeremiah O'Brien during this
   fire as flames were pinching on the side of this vessel," Baxter said.

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