The San Francisco Fire Department has contained a 3-alarm fire that broke out on 15th and Church streets Saturday afternoon, a fire dispatcher said.
The fire broke out around 4 p.m. at 1985 15th St. in the city's Castro/Upper Market neighborhood. The dispatcher said two others buildings caught fire, and at least 85 firefighters were on the scene.
Adrienne Knoll, who lives in one of the burning buildings, said she hoped for the best when her cell phone rang--it was her roommate.
"I was actually not home," Knoll said. "I was going to a monster truck rally tonight, and then I got a call from my roommate saying, 'look the building is on fire.'"
Knoll said she rushed home after she received the news.
"Ours was the middle level, so the one above us is totally gone," Knoll said. "And we are hoping we might be able to go in and salvage some of the stuff from our rooms."
Fire crews contained the fire just after 5:20 p.m., the fire dispatcher said.
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"We needed three alarms to do it," San Francisco fire spokesman Matthew McNaughton said. "We had two main buildings here, and a fire building in the back as the fire raced through the top floors. We were able to pretty quickly extinguish it within about 20 minutes, get a little control on it."
It took another hour to get the hot spots, as firefighters helped people — and pets — exit the building.
"We were able to rescue a couple of cats," McNaughton said.
The Red Cross helped residents too, as more than a dozen people were burned out of their homes.
"People are more important than things, and that's what you think of," Knoll said.
The Muni J-Church line experienced delays due to the fire.
No injuries were reported.
