Four-Alarm Fire Tears Through Inner Richmond Row Houses, Displaces 35

The article was originally published on https://sfist.com/2025/06/06/four-alarm-fire-tears-through-inner-richmond-row-houses/A major blaze broke out overnight in SF's Inner Richmond, destroying or damaging five row houses on 5th Avenue between Balboa and Anza streets, leaving one pet cat dead and 35 people displaced. The fire began around 1:54 am Friday, as KRON4 reports, on the 500 block of 5th Avenue, near USF, and flames quickly spread across three adjacent three-story residences. It became a four-alarm blaze, with 140 firefighters on the scene, trying to keep it from consuming more of the block. SF Fire Department Chief Dean Crispen tells the Chronicle that firefighters feared further spread of the fire due to the closeness of the structures and the fact that they were all wood-sided.P