A two-alarm fire broke out at an abandoned warehouse on Manseau Street in Hunters Point on Wednesday, sending crews from an initial search of the building into defensive operations as the blaze grew. The call marked another fire at a vacant industrial structure in a part of San Francisco that has seen its share of similar incidents in recent years.
According to the San Francisco Fire Department Media
, crews initially entered the building for a quick primary search before pulling back. “Crews entered the building for a quick primary search and have now gone defensive operations,” the department said in its post describing the Manseau Street fire. The account, which posts under the handle @sffdpio, serves as the official voice for SFFD operations across the City and County of San Francisco, SFO, the Presidio, and the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
Details beyond that update were not immediately available. The department's post did not specify the fire's cause, the extent of any damage, or whether the blaze had been brought under control, and it did not address whether anyone was injured in the incident.
The fire response also involved site-specific challenges: firefighters told CBS San Francisco that the hydrant system and spacing differ from those elsewhere in the city, creating a water-pressure issue crews had to overcome. The department also called in a radiation crew because of the shipyard’s history. Those steps add operational context to the decision to fight the fire from outside the building; officials have not said that the fire released radioactive material. Fire officials’ account of the response described both measures.
The warehouse stands on the former Hunters Point Naval Shipyard. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says the Navy operated a shipyard there from 1945 to 1974 and a Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory from 1948 to 1960; past operations left contamination in soil, sediment, surface water and groundwater. Cleanup and monitoring are ongoing, with the Navy leading the work and EPA serving as lead regulator, alongside California agencies. The site’s history is relevant context for the fire response, but does not by itself indicate that the blaze caused a contaminant release. EPA’s Hunters Point site profile details the history and cleanup.
A Pattern of Warehouse Fires Near Hunters Point
Wednesday's fire is not the only one to have struck an industrial building in the broader Hunters Point and Bayview area. In a separate incident, a one-alarm fire broke out around 5 a.m. outside a warehouse in the 1200 block of Thomas Avenue, as reported by nbcbayarea.com. That fire was cleared by 7 a.m. with no injuries reported, according to the same report, though it is a distinct location from the Manseau Street blaze.
Other warehouse fires in the neighborhood have grown considerably larger before crews gained control. A fire reported at 2401 Ingalls Street in the Bayview-Hunters Point District on a Thursday, January 29, escalated quickly from one alarm to two alarms at roughly 3:15 a.m., per thesfnews.com. That blaze brought out more than 70 firefighters and was doused by 4:10 a.m., with no injuries reported by 7:18 a.m., the outlet noted.
Bigger Blazes Have Tested SFFD Resources Before
Industrial fires in this corner of the city have occasionally ballooned into major operations. A fire in the 700 block of Bayshore Boulevard drew about 70 firefighters at 10:34 p.m. in April 2023, and flames were contained to the building's exterior within about an hour and a half, according to SFFD Captain Jonathan Baxter, as reported by nbcbayarea.com. That stretch of Bayshore Boulevard was closed off while fire officials investigated the cause, the outlet reported.
An even larger fire in San Francisco's Bayview District once grew to four alarms before firefighters managed to contain it, according to ktvu.com. That incident ultimately drew 122 firefighters, and a shelter-in-place order issued for nearby residents expired at 5:30 p.m. once the danger had passed, the outlet reported.
It remains unclear how Wednesday's Manseau Street fire compares in scale to those earlier incidents, since SFFD's update stopped at the shift to defensive operations. Hoodline has not confirmed any additional details on the fire's status, cause, or impact beyond what the department has released.
