There have been several residential fires in Bernal Heights during the last few weeks, with the predictable result that several local families are now trying to get their lives back together.

We’ve told you a lot about the Andover Street fire recently, but the family from the Moultrie Steet house that caught fire on October 30 would welcome your assistance in their quest to find a short term lease or sublet to live in while their home is repaired. Neighbor Matt writes:

I am the owner of the house at 672 Moultrie which burned on Tuesday.

It was a kitchen fire — apparently caused by a faulty toaster oven — and no one was home at the time. Our neighbor Traci smelled the smoke and called 911.

We are a family of four (wife, two kids 5+7), and we are looking for a 2-3 month rental anywhere nearby while we rebuild.
Any help we can get finding a place (2-3 bedroom) would be greatly appreciated. We hope to stay in the Bernal, Mission, Noe, Glen Park area, since our kids go to school at Leornard Flynn on Precita Park. We were told that renovations could take 3-4 months.

Insurance has been taking care of everything so no need for any other community support. Thank you!

So there you go. Please contact Neighbor Matt at <mattlz AT yahooDOTcom> if you have leads or suggestions.

Thanks as always, Dear Citizens of Bernalwood, for your interest and compassion.

PHOTOS: 672 Moultrie burning on October 30, 2012, by maxlug

We have a follow-up to yesterday’s awful and controversial post about the drug lab at 655 Andover Street which triggered the fire that engulfed two homes last week.

Bernalwood is pleased to report that contact has been established with the family from 649 Andover — the house next door that was also badly damaged in the blaze. They are a big, multigenerational family, their home is uninhabitable, and their situation is rather desperate. You can help.

Neighbor Sarah explains:

Thanks to those who have helped out organizing and making donations for Angelina and her 4 year old [from 655 Andover]! We live next door to them and I wanted to let you know that they secured a furnished rental today.

Thankfully, we were finally able to make contact with the neighbors who live at 649 Andover St. (the other house that burned as a consequence). This large family of limited means is really suffering.

There were 12 people living at 649, including 2 very frail seniors, a disabled young man in a wheel chair, two sets of parents and 5 young children. They are staying where they can, sleeping on floors and don’t even have enough bedding for everyone. It seems that they are so overwhelmed with trying to survive day to day, that they are having trouble sorting out what they are going to do for the long term.

Due to insurance complications, this family is not getting the immediate lodging and clean-up that Angelina’s family is receiving, and whatever assistance they are getting from the Red Cross is ending soon.

I was able to go inside the house at 649 today. You can’t tell from the outside, but everything in the main level is destroyed.  The family is still in crisis and I really think they would benefit from a legal advocate who can help them work out the insurance situation. It seems that they are in some sort of insurance limbo because insurance companies will need to fight over who has to pay.

There is a 2-year-old girl, 4-year-old girl, 5-year-old boy, 6-year-old girl and an 8-year-old girl. They need most everything. We do know that their little boy has been wearing the same pair of pants since the fire. The six-year-old girl needs school uniforms for Flynn. They need bedding, backpacks, shoes, jackets, and food. They have lost everything.

Although Chloe’s is great for some things, it can be hard to find enough clothes for older kids there and they probably need personal items that you can’t get second-hand. Frankly, with caring for their elderly parents and the disabled boy and without a permanent place to stay, I don’t think this family is able to manage sorting or storing lots of clothing donations.

Gift cards for places like Target, Walgreens or Safeway would probably be the most efficient way to help them to meet some of their most immediate needs.

For those who want to help the family from 649 with donations of cash or gift cards, Kery Market at the corner of Andover and Richland is the collection point. Alfonso, the owner or Kery Market, has been collecting donations. You can specify that you want them to go the house at 649.

Oof.

To summarize, here is how to help the family from 649 Andover:

1. They need basic necessities and medical supplies. The most useful donations are cash, or gift cards from stores like Walgreens, Target, and Safeway. Please do not donate clothes, housewares, or toys (yet), as the family has no place to put them.
2. Donations can be dropped off at Kery Market at the corner of Andover and Richland. Mark the donations as intended for 649 Andover.
3. The family needs legal assistance and advocacy, to navigate the insurance morass. If you can provide legal help, email <bernalwood at gmail doctom> and we will connect you with the appropriate contacts.

Thanks, Bernal neighbors, for your understanding and generosity. And special, special thanks to Neighbor Sarah, for locating the family from 649 and facilitating their assistance. Going forward, Bernalwood will provide additional updates and information on relief efforts as required.

UPDATE: Neighbor Sarah brings an update on how to donate via Chloe’s Closet on Cortland:

Chloe’s now has set up accounts for each of the families from 649 Andover:

The Zamora Family is listed as 649 Andover, Unit A
People can donate cash to acct. # 10427 or store credit to acct.#10428
They have 3 children ages 2, 5 and 8

The Aquino Family is listed as 649 Andover, Unit B
People can donate cash to acct. #10429 or store credit to acct. #10430
They have 2 children ages 4 and 6

PHOTOS: 649 and 655 Andover during the fire on October 25, 2012. Photo by maxslug

Yesterday afternoon, as I was crossing Alabama, on my way from the Precita Park Cafe to Harvest Hills Market, I saw a trickle of water headed the other way. Someone washing a car? Soon, the flow became a torrent, and I realized that this was no mere car wash. Could it be the long awaited return of Precita Creek?

No.

A Recology truck had apparently uprooted the fire hydrant at the corner of Precita and Treat. And Precita Creek used to be on the other side of the park, anyway. Two little girls living on the temporary riverbank happily ran out to splash in it while it lasted.

It wasn’t as bad as the two-alarm blaze last week, but there was another residential fire in Bernal yesterday on Moultrie. Neighbor Max says:

Two fires in one week, both within a block of my house. This one was on corner of Moultrie and Ogden. Bad Mojo I tell you! This one wasn’t nearly as bad as the other one; it stayed contained to a single house and was put out pretty fast by SF’s finest.

Ack. Bernalwood will provide additional details as they become available.

Speaking of which… there’s some disheartening news about last week’s fire on Andover Street, as well as a valiant effort underway by Bernal neighbors to assist the victims. Since we have a lot of Halloween events to cover today, I’ll provide a complete update on the Andover fire tomorrow. Stay tuned.

PHOTOS: Courtesy of maxlug

A two-alarm fire broke out this afternoon the 600 block of Andover Street (near Crescent) in Bernal Heights, damaging two homes. The fire was under control by 4:30. CBSLocal has the details:

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) – A two-alarm fire that started at a home in San Francisco’s Bernal Heights neighborhood Thursday afternoon has spread to an adjacent home, a San Francisco fire spokeswoman said.

The fire was reported at 3:55 p.m. at a home at 655 Andover St., fire spokeswoman Mindy Talmadge said.

There were heavy flames in the attic and the blaze extended into one of the next-door homes, Talmadge said.

Firefighters have not located anyone in the homes and no injuries have been reported, Talmadge said.

UPDATE: KTVU adds this:

Heavy flames in the attic of the home spread to a next-door house before the fire was contained, Talmadge said.

The American Red Cross has been called to assist three adults and three children who live in the first home and five adults, one child and three cats who live in the next-door residence, she said.

Personnel from the city’s Department of Building Inspection have been called to the scene to check the integrity of the buildings, Talmadge said.

No injuries were reported in the blaze.

UPDATE: More from KTVU regarding two arrests connected to the blaze:

Two people have been taken into custody in connection with a suspicious fire that caused an estimated $540,000 in damage to two residential buildings in San Francisco’s Bernal Heights neighborhood on Thursday afternoon, a fire department spokeswoman said Friday. [ …]

Two people were taken into custody after investigators determined the fire was suspicious, Talmadge said. The official cause of the blaze has not yet been determined, she said.
Police were not immediately available Friday afternoon to provide more details about the arrests.

PHOTOS: Click images for original source

There was a two-alarm fire in a cottage on Capp Street between 23rd and 24th yesterday. While the SFFD went to work on the blaze, Neighbor Benjamin photographed the situation from his Bernal Heights observation post.

As destiny would have it, I was walking up 24th Street when firefighters first arrived. I switched to iWitness mode to capture some photos from the scene:

PHOTOS: Top, Benjamin Staffin. All others, Telstar Logistics

Yesterday’s big, horrible fire at the Chevron refinery in Richmond is an ecological nightmare, but on the visual side,  got a clear view of it from our our Bernal Hill observation post.

PHOTOS: From top, Michael Minson, @stickel, and Neighbor Rebecca