1 dead, 6 injured in Mission District inferno

Video: Mission District fire Jan. 28 2015

Flames tore through a Mission District building home to dozens of families, killing one person, injuring six others and causing major damage late Wednesday, fire officials said.

Fire crews swarmed the scene after 7 p.m. as smoke rose into the night sky and flames leaped from the building. A body was pulled from the still-burning mixed-use structure and six people suffered injuries, including smoke inhalation and burns, said San Francisco Fire Department Chief Joanne Hayes-White. A firefighter was among the injured.

Fire crews rescued at least 12 people from the four-alarm inferno at 22nd and Mission streets, including six people stuck on a fire escape and others trying to hide from the smoke and flames in interior stairwells, the chief said.

As of 11:30 p.m. Wednesday, the fire had been contained but was still burning, officials said.

“When I got on scene, crews had a very good handle on (the fire), but it immediately ran the attic” and started burning out of control, Hayes-White said.

San Francisco Fire Department members fight blaze at 22nd and Mission Street in San Francisco, Calif., on Wednesday, January 28, 2015. San Francisco Fire Department members fight blaze at 22nd and Mission Street in San Francisco, Calif., on Wednesday, January 28, 2015. Photo: Scott Strazzante, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Scott Strazzante, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 22 Caption Close 1 dead, 6 injured in Mission District inferno 1 / 22 Back to Gallery

More than 100 firefighters swarmed the scene, with some climbing fire escapes before the flames became too much. Crews blasted the fire with high-powered hoses, pushing back the flames. Crowds of onlookers below broke into cheers.

Ricardo Cedeno, 32, lived in Unit 310 of the building for 12 years. He shared the space with his wife, daughter, sister, mother and stepfather. He stood near the yellow crime scene tape with his 18-year-old daughter, Yessica, checking their phones and gazing at the charred windows of their home.

Little by little, they recalled prized possessions that were likely lost.

“My dress,” Yessica said, speaking of the quinceanera dress she wore three years before.

“My wife’s wedding dress,” her father said.

“It’s devastating,” he said. “We pretty much lost everything. We’re just here trying to see the building one last time.”

Cedeno said he and his daughter weren’t home when the fire broke out, but his mother and stepfather were there. He said his stepfather had been cooking in the kitchen and stepped out to use the bathroom. When he came back, he saw flames coming out of a wall.

His stepfather ran out and began knocking on doors, alerting his neighbors, Cedeno said.

“Everything happened in the blink of an eye,” he said.

Cedeno said the building was mostly home to Latino families, including some loved ones and close friends. It was a close-knit community, he said.

Samantha Hauser, a 25-year-old who works in marketing, lives next to the building, which has residential units on the second and third floors, with commercial space on the first and second floors. She got to the area about 15 minutes after the fire started when it was confined to a few units, but watched from the street as it spread through almost the entire floor in less than an hour.

“I was scared when I first got here,” she said. “I saw flames coming out of the windows, and I just lost all my breath.”

The Mission Local news nonprofit’s office is on the second floor of the burning building. Reporter Laura Wenus, 23, said she was the last one to leave work about 6:15 p.m., minutes before the fire was reported.

Though flames appeared to be contained mostly to the third floor, she said she’s worried about the possible smoke and water damage to the computers and camera gear of the nonprofit, which is affiliated with The Chronicle.

“But I feel worse for the people that actually live there,” she said.

Rachel Amaya, 25, who lives at the nearby Casa De La Rosa on 22nd Street, said she saw the fire start and take off from the side near her building to the Mission Street side.

“I was sitting in my room and heard all these fire alarms,” she said. “Then all these sirens started and I went outside and saw the huge fire. The flames were coming up out of the roof.”

Vivian Ho and Kale Williams are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. E-mail: vho@sfchronicle.com, kwilliams@sfchronicle.com