Blaze leaves San Francisco hardware store, apartment building in ruins

Jul 31, 2023

A San Francisco business and an apartment building are in ruins after a three-alarm fire raced through them on Tuesday night.

The windows and doors at Progress Hardware store in the 700 block of Irving Street were boarded up Wednesday.

Randy Blair says he and his father were watching the Giants came, when they first heard about the fire at their Sunset District business. They quickly rushed over.

“It was the moment I feared,” he said. “The worst thing you could actually, possibly think of being a business owner is a fire.”

More than half a day later, the smell of smoke was still in the air.

“My father has been here 30 years, owned it for 25. And he was grooming me to take it over and be the owner. A true family hardware store, so, its gut wrenching,” Blair said.

According to SFFD, the fire involved three buildings, including the hardware store, a garden-style apartment complex and a building under construction and grew to three alarms before firefighters could knock it down.

Captain Jonathan Baxter with the San Francisco Fire Department spoke about the incident.

“Our investigators are in the process of determining the origin and cause of the fire. That origin includes which building did this fire start in,”

About 35 people were affected, although some of them were able to get back into the apartment building today. At least seven people will need help from the Red Cross to find temporary housing.

“All my clothes, I mean are smoked. So, we are going to try to wash it, All my textbooks, I go to school All of those are like destroyed,” said San Francisco resident Romane Vigouroux.

Meantime, the hardware store is working with their insurance and started a GoFundMe, in hopes of finding the funds to rise from the ashes.

“I hope we will be back soon. I don’t plan on going anywhere. I want to open up and rebuild the store,” Blair said.