Calamity

Questions Remain as Regulators Probe Cause of PG&E Transformer Explosion

/ Todd_Lappin / 14 Comments

As the two victims of Saturday morning’s PG&E transformer explosion on Heyman recover from their injuries, outraged regulators (and Bernal neighbors) are demanding that PG&E provide a full accounting of how this accident happened. Ted Goldberg from KQED reports:

The California Public Utilities Commission has launched an investigation into an underground transformer explosion that injured two men in San Francisco’s Bernal Heights neighborhood over the weekend.

The incident has also led [San Francisco D9 supervisor David Campos], who represents the area where the explosion took place, to call for a hearing into the safety of PG&E’s underground electricity infrastructure.

On Monday, Bernalwood sent a series of questions to PG&E regarding the cause of the accident and the history of the transformer unit that exploded. PG&E spokesperson Joe Molica told Bernalwood:

PG&E is conducting its own investigation into the incident in Bernal Heights on Saturday (Sept. 26) and will be bringing in a third-party firm to do an independent investigation.

Two individuals were injured when an underground transformer failed. PG&E employees were responding to a wire-down outage five blocks away. Our thoughts and prayers continue to go out to the people who were injured.

PG&E conducted a patrol of the electric-distribution equipment in the neighborhood on June 4, 2015, with no issues. PG&E conducted a thorough inspection of the transformer in 2013.

In the past year there have been no circuit-level outages on this circuit.

You also asked about other incidents with transformers in Bernal. As you know, in late 2013, there was a transformer failure on a street several blocks away. That was a different situation with a different type of transformer, where a PG&E worker was making repairs when the transformer failed.

This left a several of our questions unanswered, so Bernalwood requested clarification of what a “patrol” entails. PG&E’s Molica explained:

PG&E’s investigation will include a forensic analysis of the failed equipment, researching the history of the circuit, looking into the specific cause of the incident and other actions.

Also, a patrol is a visible inspection of PG&E electric distribution facilities to identify obvious structural hazards or problems. An inspection is a more thorough examination of individual components of electric distribution facilities.

And what about the age of the transformer that exploded. When was it manufactured? When was it installed? Molica said:

I don’t know; however this will be part of the investigation.

Mayhem Strikes as Thief Crashes Stolen Car on Mullen

/ Todd_Lappin / 9 Comments

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Grrrrr. Neighbor Peter did some excellent reporting on the scene yesterday after a stolen Honda Accord crashed into a several parked vehicles on Mullen:

A bit of news from Santana Rancho today. I didn’t witness it happen, but heard a loud crash at around 1pm (ish) and ran outside to check it out. Pictures below of what I found on Mullen at Franconia.

A Honda Accord slammed into a Saab then careened into and on top of a Mini Cooper. The 2 witnesses I spoke to said the driver fled the scene on foot north down the Franconia stairs towards Peralta, then headed east on Peralta.

The police were on the scene pretty quickly and seemed to get a somewhat decent description of the suspect from witnesses. They confirmed that the car was stolen. Also, the police were then pointed to a few belongings that the suspect may have dropped on the Franconia stairs while fleeing – a couple of flashlights and a pretty large folding knife.

All in all, pretty startling, since he must’ve been driving pretty fast to cause such an acciden. All are lucky that no bystanders were hurt. Unfortunately, the two cars that got hit were in pretty rough shape though.

PHOTOS: Neighbor Peter

PG&E Transformer Explodes, Injuring 2 as Blackout Darkens Cortlandia

/ Todd_Lappin / 16 Comments

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Many South Bernal resident experienced a blackout of much of the day on Saturday, after a PG&E power surge took down part of the local grid. Neighbor Esther was reporting live from the scene:

At Wool and Eugenia this morning. Two loud pops and flashes. Fire dept is here. Live wire hanging down to shoulder level in intersection. Red hot little wire up above. Yikes! Overheard a comment about a power surge that caused this.

Yikes is right. Here’s Neighbor Esther’s photo of a red-hot wire cooking above Eugenia:

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Blackouts are a nuisance, but unfortunately this outage actually caused injuries, as the power surge triggered a transformer explosion on tiny Heyman Avenue, several blocks away.

Benny Evangelista from  The San Francisco Chronicle covered it:

Robert Antonelli, 55, was at the window of his Heyman Avenue home about 7:45 a.m. talking to a friend, Manuel Cruz, 34, of Daly City, who was standing outside, when he heard what sounded like a firecracker’s wick sizzling.

“And the next thing, ka-boom,” Antonelli said. “It exploded like a bomb. It blew things off my shelf. I flew back into my bed. Debris flew back into my room.”

Antonelli said Cruz, who was standing next to the transformer, was knocked out, and both men were taken to San Francisco General Hospital. Antonelli said he was treated for light burns on his face and released, but Cruz was more seriously burned and remained hospitalized.

The hospital did not immediately return a call seeking information about Cruz’s condition.

PG&E spokesman Matt Nauman confirmed that two men were injured after an equipment failure that occurred while a utility crew was at Wool Street and Eugenia Avenue, working to fix a power failure that began about 7:30 a.m.

Terrible. Get well soon, Neighbor Bobby and Manuel Cruz!

UPDATE: In the comments, Neighbor Esther shares more information about the injured:

I spoke to Neighbor Bobby later on Saturday after he was released from the hospital. He suffered light burns over his face and he said his lungs were still hurting and that is also hurt for him to talk. Manuel’s injuries were more serious, apparently he has severe burns all over his body but initial reports indicate his eyesight and hearing are ok. Best wishes for both men recovering soon!

Esther also reminds us that another PG&E transformer exploded nearby, on Coleridge, a little more than a year ago. Bernalwood has sent a series of questions to PG&E to understand more about the history and inspection procedures for this infrastructure. Stay tuned.

PHOTOS: PG&E crew working at Wool and Eugenia, courtesy of Neighbor Esther

Cortland Neighbor May Leave Bernal After 130% Rent Increase

/ Todd_Lappin / 52 Comments

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Last week, Bernalwood received a heartbreaking note from Neighbor Bianca, who is reluctantly vacating her apartment on Cortland (near Andover) after being notified of a 130% rent increase. She tells Bernalwood:

It is to my great dismay that as a four-year Bernal resident, I have been officially notified of a rental increase. The 2-unit building I live in was sold about 4 months back to Citibrokers, Inc.

I found the notice of my rental increase coldly slapped and taped onto the front gate of my 2 bedroom apartment. I have attached the picture of the main document.

My unit is considered a “Single-Family Unit” because the building consists just of my apartment and a nail salon below. That makes it exempt from rent control. I spoke with the SF Rental Board, they said the rent increase was legal. It would seem pointless to attempt to fight it/hire a lawyer

As an On-Call Biologist at the Exploratorium and a part-time bartender at a music venue in the Mission, I simply do not make enough money to afford this new increase. With this, I must leave the Bay as I have run out of options for myself and my pup, Karma.

I hope this serves as a bleak warning to the rest of our beloved Bernal locals.  I want to sound the alarm so other residents brush up on their rights and keep in touch with the landlord with regard to any future sales plans. My prior landlord didn’t even tell me when he sold the building! It wasn’t until a real estate agent was at my door, asking to come in for measurements. Sigh.

I absolutely adore this neighborhood and couldn’t imagine living anywhere else in the city. I’m going to truly miss Bernal Heights…it’s a special slice of paradise hidden in the noise and chaos of SF.  It saddens me deeply it must end like this.

Best,

Bianca
(Biologist, Bartender, Bernal & Dog Lover, Silly Cross-Stitcher)

Grrrrrrrr. Coming shortly after the 355% rent increase that drove Neighbor Deb from her apartment on Bocana earlier in the year, this is a tough story to hear.

Meanwhile, if anyone has any leads on potential housing options for Neighbor Bianca here in Bernal, please contact Bernalwood. We’ll make sure the information gets to her ASAP.

PHOTOS: via Neighbor Bianca

What the Hell Happened on Manchester Street?

/ Todd_Lappin / 9 Comments

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Six cars parked along the steep upper reaches of Manchester Street were damaged last night on Friday in a kinetic accident that caused several cars to pancake together. Ouch.

The incident happened on the steep, dead-end block of Manchester below Bernal Hill, just south of Stoneman. Neighbor Simon broke the story via an email to Bernalwood:

Returning home from a weekend away to find the evidence of some dramatic event on Manchester above Stoneman. Half a dozen cars are smashed up and pushed into each other like dominoes. Runaway car? Angry drunk? Malicious joy-riders? WTF?!?

Incredulous, we dispatched the floodlight-equipped Bernalwood Action News Jeep to the scene on Sunday night to investigate.

The basic facts checked out instantly. Someone or something drove down the wrong side of Manchester. Along the way, he/she/it glanced off a Subaru Forester, damaging the rear quarter and peeling off much of the bumper. They then slammed into an Acura, doing extensive damage to the front end, before hitting a Saturn SUV and triggering a domino effect with three more adjacent cars.

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Very, very unpleasant.

Oddly, the scene was eerily quiet when Bernalwood visited at about 10:30 last night. No neighbors. No police. Just lots of silence, broken cars, and shattered glass. Neighbor Sam was equally baffled:

While attempting to park this evening, I saw all this up at the top of Manchester: Cars hit by something and knocked around like playthings… Strangely there were no neighbors milling about (so maybe happened earlier??), but neither had there been a call to the police (I phoned it in on the non emergency line). A mystery… or Cloverfield 2?

Based on our preliminary observations, Bernalwood is going with the Cloverfield hypothesis. We will update this story as further information becomes available.

UPDATE 8:56 AM Neighbor Arwen writes in with the executive summary and useful reminder:

The Manchester drama actually happened on Friday night 🙂 Someone was apparently looking for parking, didn’t find a spot and started to back down but lost control. Eek! Fortunately the driver was not hurt and no one was in the cars, but as you can see, there was quite a lot of damage… The insurance assessors can’t come until Monday (today) so pretty much everyone left things as is.

While I’m writing you, I’ll make a PSA about curbing wheels. A similar accident happened a few years ago–someone pulled up on the other side of the street (no parking there), forgot to curb his wheels, and went inside a house. The emergency brake gave way and the car careened down the street, totalling 5 or 6 cars! So, always curb your wheels! And be careful backing down…

PHOTOS: Telstar Logistics

En Route to Washington, Badass Bernal Racecar Generates Panic In Oregon

/ Todd_Lappin / 6 Comments

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As you know, America’s Most Badass Volvo Station Wagon is a proud resident of Bernal Heights.

Driven competitively by the Bernal Dads Racing Team in the 24 Hours of LeMons racing series, “The Whale” is currently en route from Bernal Heights to scenic Shelton, Washington to compete in a weekend race at The Ridge Motorsports Park.

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Yesterday, as Neighbor Stephan dragged The Whale into Oregon for the first time, Bernalwood received unconfirmed reports that Oregon governor Kate Brown had ordered the distribution of mandatory tetanus shot boosters for all residents of the Beaver State:

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Now on its third engine, second transmission, third hood, fourth bumper, third pair of front fenders, second electrical system, and second windshield, The Whale will roll at The Ridge this weekend to bring honor and glory to all the peoples of Bernal Heights.  Maybe.

If you’d like to keep track of the spectacle, follow Bernal Dads Racing on Facebook for photos and updates.

PHOTOS: Bernal Dads Racing

SUV Burns In Dramatic Fireball on 101 Above Cortland

/ Todd_Lappin / 10 Comments

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So far it it seems this was just a routine car fire, which means the occupants had time to escape before the vehicle engulfed itself in a dramatic fireball. But some Bernal residents definitely saw the dramatic fireball when a car caught fire on 101 south just above the Cortland overpass, and it was extremely dramatic.

Neighbor Rally brilliantly self-deputized himself as a reporter for the Bernalwood Action News Team, and he sprang into action with a live uplink from the scene:

HOLY CRAP is right.

But before long the fire department arrived, and the flames were extinguished:

Great reporting, Neighbor Rally! This seems a good time for a public service safety reminder.

Decades ago, during the Reign of Reagan, your Bernalwood editor watched helplessly as his first car immolated itself in a dramatic fireball on the side of a cold urban freeway.

Today, your Bernalwood editor always carries a small fire extinguisher inside the vehicle. Car fires typically start small, so they’re very easy to put out quickly — if you have a fire extinguisher handy. If you don’t have a fire extinguisher handy, you end up with a spectacle like this within about 3 minutes. (Important Life-Lesson I Learned: Big Gulp-sized fountain drinks DO NOT function well as a fire retardant.) Dramatic! Get a fire extinguisher.

PHOTOS: Neighbor Rally

Dispute Unsettled, but Bocana Neighbor Departs Home After Huge Rent Increase

/ Todd_Lappin / 10 Comments

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Yesterday was a sad moving day for Neighbor Deb Follingstad, who had to leave her home at 355 Bocana after receiving a now-infamous 315% rent increase notice from the landlord, Neighbor Nadia Llama.

ABC7 updated the story last Friday:

Follingstad’s home is understandably a mess since the May 5 deadline to move is just days away. She says leaving her home of 10 years hurts. She explained to 7 On Your Side, “It’s so painful and I’ve had to uproot my life in a month.”

A move out sale Follingstad held attracted a steady stream of people. Until she finds a place to live, she plans to couch surf and house sit. Beyond that, her future is murky.

“I don’t know anymore. I can’t afford to live here. A lot of my friends can’t afford to live here and it’s pretty heartbreaking the way the city’s changing,” Follingstad said.

The home is registered as a single family home and the landlord believes it’s not covered by rent control laws.

Tenants rights attorney Joe Tobener calls this eviction by rent increase. He said, “It’s an easy way for landlords to try to get tenants out, to increase the rent.”

Tobener plans to file a lawsuit on Follingstad’s behalf. He is charging landlord Nadia Llama with wrongful eviction.

PHOTO: Top, Telstar Logistics. Below, Neighbor Deb Follingstad via ABC7

Thursday: Benefit at Little Nepal on Cortland to Assist Earthquake Victims

/ Todd_Lappin / 4 Comments

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There aren’t many Nepalese restaurants on this side of the pond, but we’ve got one on Cortland, and Little Nepal is hosting a special dinner on Thursday, April 30 to help victims of the massive earthquake that struck Nepal last weekend:

Our hearts are heavy with the news of the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that rocked Nepal on Saturday, April 25, killing more than 2,500 people in the country and dozens more in surrounding nations. The earthquake also triggered an avalanche on Mount Everest, killing at least 17 people. With poor infrastructure in a densely populated area, Nepal needs our help more than ever.

Please join us in dining to help rebuild and provide aid on Thursday, April 30.

Little Nepal (925 Cortland Avenue) has graciously agreed to create a donation-only select menu for this evening only. We spoke with the Owner and Executive Chef, Prem Tamang, and he is from the district of Kavrepalanchok, Nepal. All of the cash-only donation proceeds will go directly to his hometown. The restaurant is open from 5 – 10 p.m. Come anytime! Upon your arrival, please let the host / server know that you are here for the donation-only meal. Please note that this will exclude beverages and other items off the special menu.

Please spread the word and extend this invite to your network. Together, we can eat delicious Nepalese Cuisine while making a difference.

Prem, Chasa and Sebastien

PHOTO: Courtesy of Little Nepal. Hat tip: Eater SF

One Year After Alex Nieto’s Death, Bernal Family Is Transformed by Tragedy

/ Todd_Lappin / 24 Comments

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One year ago, on March 21, 2014, Bernal neighbor Alex Nieto was killed in an officer-involved shooting on Bernal Hill.

Several times during the last few months — and as recently as just last week — I have seen Alex’s parents, Elvira and Refugio Nieto, walking along the sidewalks not far from their home on Cortland. There’s nothing particularly unusual about the affect of Neighbor Alex’s parents as they walk the streets of Bernal Heights. Yet while opinions may differ on the sequence of events that transpired on the evening Alex died, there can be no doubt whatsoever about the anguish they feel after having lost their son — and that comes to the forefront for me every time I see them.

It is heartbreaking.

Mission Local captures the Nieto family’s new reality:

About to retire from her long career as a housekeeper in a downtown hotel, Bernal Heights resident Elvira Nieto looked forward to her retirement. She and her husband, Refugio, had plans to surprise their son with a trip to the town of Tarimoro, in Guanajuato, Mexico, their shared birthplace.

But then on the evening of March 21, 2014, that son, Alejandro “Alex” Nieto, died during an officer-involved shooting in Bernal Heights Park. Neighborhood and police versions of the story conflict radically, but what’s painfully clear is that the Nieto family’s course has changed drastically.

Rather than ease into retirement, Elvira and Refugio Nieto have a new job—they’ve become full-time activists against police violence. Today marks the one-year anniversary of their son’s death and, for them, the work is far from over.

“[Alex] would ask me, ‘What are your plans for when you retire?’ I told him the only plan is to rest, but instead this happened,” said Elvira Nieto this week. “It’s all that we’ve done. I never imagined that this is what we’d be doing.”

There is a crowdfunding effort underway by Neighbor Alex’s family and friends to support the Alex Nieto Memorial Fund and create a memorial bench for him on Bernal Hill.

IMAGE: Top, Video still of Bernal neighbors Elvira and Refugio Nieto, parents of Alex Nieto, on Bernal Hill, December 16, 2014

KQED: Lama Family Feud Lies at Heart of Big Bocana Rent Increase

/ Todd_Lappin / 67 Comments

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Veteran reporter Dan Brekke knows how to do the legwork required to crack a story open. These days he works for KQED, where he just published a remarkably detailed report on the Lama family dispute that lies at the heart of the now-infamous 315 Bocana rent-increase controversy.

Brekke’s reporting largely confirms rumors that have been rippling through Bernal Heights for the last few days, to the effect that as a result of the family feud, Bernal neighbor and 355 Bocana property owner Nadia Lama hoped to evict Neigbor Deb Follingstad, because Neighbor Nadia herself needs a place to live.

Brekke reports:

Superior Court filings show that Nina Gelfant and Gayle Worrell alleged they were forced from their one-bedroom, one-bathroom, 720-square-foot Cortland Avenue apartment [in 2013] after the Lamas raised the rent from $1,650 to $4,250 — 157 percent.

The suit argued that the rent increase was far above market rate and designed to get Gelfant and Worrell to leave so that Lamas could sell the property.

That sale, [tenant-rights lawyer Joe] Tobener suggested in a trial brief that outlined more than $1 million in potential damages, was triggered by a battle among Shukry Lama’s heirs over the property he’d left behind when he died in 2012.

“Chuck Lama’s heirs were fighting over their share of the inheritance which demanded selling properties or having the heirs occupy them as residences,” Tobener’s brief says.

That alleged squabble also appears to have played a role in Nadia Lama’s dramatic increase of Deb Follingstad’s rent.

In September 2013, she filed a probate petition in Superior Court seeking to compel her sister Claudia, the overseer of several family trusts set up by [deceased family patriarch] Chuck Lama, to account for the family’s assets. Assets named in the petition and exhibits include a small Cortland Avenue market, Chuck’s Store, the store’s liquor license, eight residential properties in San Francisco, one in Burlingame, and unspecified real estate in Chile.

The court proceeding resulted in an agreement last Dec. 31 in which the three Lama sisters and their three brothers, along with some of their children, agreed to close the family trusts and distribute their assets.

The property Nadia Lama was to receive includes a 2006 Toyota Avalon; $25,000 to pay the legal bills she’d incurred; a little more than $750,000 in cash due upon the sale of two of the family’s properties; and finally, the Bocana Street residence occupied by Deb Follingstad and the $7,500 to hire a lawyer to evict her.

The agreement also requires Nadia Lama to vacate her current home, a couple of doors up from Follingstad and still owned by her siblings, by the end of April. If she doesn’t, the document says, she’ll have to pay $4,000 a month rent to four of her siblings who will continue as owners; and if she does anything to interfere with their renting out the home she’s supposed to vacate, she’ll owe her siblings $10,000 in damages.

Kudos to Dan Brekke and KQED for the excellent work following the paper trail. Read Brekke’s full report on the KQED website, right here.

PHOTO: Telstar Logistics

District Attorney Releases Report on Alex Nieto Shooting, Will Not Press Charges Against SFPD Officers

/ Todd_Lappin / 6 Comments

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The San Francisco District Attorney decided to release some important news late Friday afternoon, likely in the hope that you wouldn’t pay much attention over the holiday weekend. So Bernalwood brings you this news today, in the hope that you are now paying very, very close attention…

Last week, San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón announced that the four SFPD officers who participated in the March, 2014 officer-involved shooting death of Cortland resident Alex Nieto on Bernal Hill will not face criminal charges as a result of the incident.

Henry K. Lee of the San Francisco Chronicle summarizes DA Gascón’s report:

Gascón’s report said all four officers had “continued to believe their lives were in danger … until Mr. Nieto’s head and weapon went down.”

The four — Lt. Jason Sawyer and Officers Roger Morse, Richard Schiff and Nathan Chew — had responded to witness reports that Nieto, a 28-year-old Mission resident, had a gun and was acting erratically on March 21.

The officers “saw what appeared to be a gun as soon as they encountered him on a hill,” the district attorney’s report said. “Mr. Nieto refused to obey orders to show his hands and, instead, immediately drew and pointed his weapon at the officers.”

At a news conference, Gascón added, “Given the circumstances, I’m not sure this was a preventable shooting.” In such instances, he said, “a shooting is likely to occur. It is lawful. It is clearly constitutional, and I’m not sure there is much that could have been done to prevent it.” […]

Gascón’s report to [SFPD Chief Greg Suhr] provided the most detailed account by authorities of the shooting. It said that on March 3, less than three weeks before he was killed, Nieto was accused of firing a Taser at the estranged husband of a friend.

On the day of the police shooting, prosecutors said, several dog walkers at Bernal Heights Park reported feeling threatened by Nieto. One witness told investigators Nieto had pulled what looked like a pistol from his holster and pointed it at his dog — the animal had taken interest in a bag of chips Nieto was eating — before realizing it was a Taser.

“When he turned it into profile and aimed it at my dog, that’s when I could tell that it was a Taser just because of the size of the muzzle area,” the witness said.

The witness said he begged Nieto not to shoot his dog with the Taser, telling him the dog wasn’t aggressive and “just wants some chips,” according to the report. Nieto aimed the Taser at the witness and yelled expletives, the report said, before the witness left the park, while warning others about Nieto.

After Schiff and Sawyer arrived, in uniform, and ordered Nieto to show his hands, Nieto allegedly walked toward them, lifted his sweatshirt to expose a black holster, and shouted back at the officers, “Let me see your hands!” Nieto then “squared off with them in a defensive stance,” the report said, drew what turned out to be the Taser and pointed it directly at officers.

Schiff and Sawyer, who was then a sergeant, opened fire, authorities said. Nieto fell to the ground with his hands in front of him, police said. Schiff reported seeing a red light coming from the object Nieto was carrying and “thought it might be a laser sight. Both officers believed Mr. Nieto was still trying to fire back at them, and continued to fire,” the report said.

For better or worse, Gascón’s long-overdue report now stands as the most detailed official chronology of the events that took place on Bernal Hill on March 21, 2014. You can read the complete text of Gascón’s report to SFPD Chief Suhr right here (PDF); It paints an unsettling picture of the scene that evening. An excerpt:

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Responding on behalf of Neighbor Alex Nieto’s family and friends at the Justice4AlexNieto website, Ben Bac Sierra says DA Gascón’s report is not credible:

Scholarship student and security guard Alex Nieto never pointed a taser at San Francisco Police Officers Sawyer and Schiff. There is at least one witness who saw everything and emphatically confirms that Alex Nieto never pointed a taser at officers. This witness was never interviewed for the district attorney’s report.

But for one moment let’s forget the witness. The district attorney’s report accepts the police department narrative: two veteran San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) police officers have their weapons drawn aiming directly at Alex Nieto who is eating a bag of chips walking down the hill. Both officers KNOW he has a firearm. These two READY police officers then allow Alex to square off with them, reach into his holster (they KNOW he has a gun), and they allow Alex to point this “gun” directly at them BEFORE they finally make the decision to start shooting at him 59 times.

This tale is ridiculous and unbelievable, yet they expect us to accept it.

There was no reason for Alex to have been shot at 59 times! This entire sham is a cover up to hide the SFPD’s incompetence, lack of fire discipline, and illegal and intimidating investigation. They will not take responsibility for killing an innocent, promising young man, Alex Nieto, our brother.

While no charges will be filed against the SFPD officers, other aspects of Neighbor Alex Nieto’s case are ongoing. Mike Koozmin from the San Francisco Examiner describes the next steps:

Gascon said today that he recognizes that Nieto’s death was a tragedy and has offered to meet with Nieto’s family members, but that they have so far declined to meet with him. While the district attorney’s office has concluded that the police officers believed they were in imminent danger when they discharged their weapon, Gascon wrote in his letter to the chief of police that his office did not examine issues such as compliance with the policies and procedures of the San Francisco Police Department or ways to improve training or tactics. The letter also does not address any issues related to civil liability.

Gascon has also recommended the case to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for further investigation.

A lawsuit filed on behalf of the Nieto family against the city for violation of Nieto’s civil rights, on the grounds that police officers allegedly used excessive force against him, is pending.

 IMAGE: Photo illustration by Telstar Logistics

How to Help a Bernal Family Recover from the Massive Mission Fire

/ Todd_Lappin / 3 Comments

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The massive fire that destroyed the Mission Market building on the corner of Mission and 22nd Street on January 28 was a tragedy on so many levels — one fatality, 40+ residents lost their homes, businesses destroyed, and a historic Mission building gone forever.

Lisa Mudd is a former Bernal neighbor who recently relocated for work. She tells Bernalwood the fire has had a devastating impact on the Alvarez family, longtime Bernal residents who moved into the building at Mission and 22nd a year ago. Lisa writes:

We lived on Folsom between Eugenia & Powhattan,  at 3658. Our neighbors, Betty & Paolo Alvarez, raised their family and grandchildren in the house next to us. Marcie is one of their children and Mayra & Alfonso are their grandchildren.

They are a 30+ year Bernal family. Mayra was our babysitter and she is flat-out wonderful. She would often invite all the cousins over to our house to play and our kids loved it. Marcie, Mayra’s mom, is a single mom putting Alfonso and soon Mayra through college. They moved to the Mission about a year or so ago. Betty & Paolo have since moved, as well, because the cost of living became too much to bear.

They are a very kind family. I am heartbroken for them, but so incredibly thankful that they were rescued by our firefighters.

Former Neighbor Mayra Alvarez set up a crowdfunding page to help her family get back on its feet. Mayra tells us how she escaped the blaze:

My name is Mayra Alvarez. I am 17 and currently a senior at Galileo high school. Like every other senior, I am currently in the process of applying to college, hoping to pursue a career in nursing. Nursing is my career choice because I love to help people in need and give back to my community. I have been surrounded by nurses all my life due to my asthma and kidney illness. The college process is very difficult, especially when there are obstacles along the way; such as this one.

In the time of the fire, I was enjoying my dinner with my mother, as we began to smell the smoke. No yells or fire alarms were heard to warn us, just the black smoke burning our eyes and making it hard for me to breathe. I didn’t have many escape options, I was seconds away from jumping out the window, three floors up, as the fireman began to pull me out. Very little breathe, no inhaler, hope is all I had. I truly thought I would take my last breathe in apartment 316, my home, which is now gone for good.

We are currently looking for a stable place to live, but need as much help as we could get. I live with my brother and my mother, a hard working single mother. My brother is currently enrolled in college, and this tragic event has truly affected us all. We have lost everything: clothes, shoes, food and savings. Just like every new start, it’s time to start from scratch.

Oof. You can make a direct donation to help the Alvarez family right here.

Otherwise, you can also contribute to a general fund for victims of the January 28 fire here.

Finally, Miss Emmy from Emmy’s Spaghetti Shack on Mission Street in Bernal has also been in contact. She tells Bernalwood, “Please let our neighbors know we are collecting stuff for the fire victims this weeknd and forever how long.” The list of items the displaced families need is here; you can drop things off at Emmy’s, 3230 Mission Street (near Valencia).

PHOTO: Fire by Mission Local