A single family home in hoarding on fire and complained by neighbors prior

SAN FRANCISCO — A single family home on 700 block 22nd Avenue in the Richmond District was on fire on March 8. No injury was reported in the 1-alarm fire. But it was a nightmare for neighbors who had complained to the Fire Department on the hoarding at the house prior to the fire and had seen looting after the fire.

The fire occurred around 3:30am on March 8. According to the San Francisco Fire Department (SFFD) posted the fire information on social media, it was a 1-alarm fire and no injuries were reported.

"Units are on scene working the fire and have hoarder conditions present. Please avoid the area," SFPD provided some details about the fire that morning on social media.

Some neighbors were affected by the fire with damages to their homes. Neighbors shared information with Wind Newspaper that there was a big concern for some time by realizing the hoarding situation and worrying about the fire hazard at the house.

Some neighbors had called and filed complaints with the SFFD on the hoarding but had seen no actions taken.

The latest resident of the house was a 73-year-old Chinese American woman who is also a member of the ownership purchasing the house in 1990, according to records.

Neighbors said the woman had been a lone resident in the house for years with children who do not live there. Neighbors had seen the elderly woman piled things up all over her house that alerted them to a fire hazard situation.

Neighbors also suspected that the woman had some mental disorders. "We felt like sitting ducks knowing how easy it is for her house to catch fire and how delusional she is. Then our worst nightmare came true. It was such a precarious situation," said a Chinese American neighbor who grew up in the Richmond District and asked not to be named.

"I only want to get this out there because we followed all the channels to make a report to prevent this from happening and it still happened. We need to have a more effective system for people to report fire hazards / hoarding. Especially in the Richmond and the Sunset districts where our houses are so close to each other," the neighbor added.

The elderly woman at the house on fire always took a walk around the neighborhood late at night or early morning in the dark, neighbors said. At around 3:30am in the morning when the fire broke out, neighbors saw the fire and called 911. The woman was not at home and out walking in the neighborhood.

After firefighters controlled the fire on March 8, looting occurred at each following night that brought more concerns to the neighbors.

"The scary part is that people have come with chainsaws every night to break in to see if they can find anything," said the neighbor who filed a police report on looting along with other neighbors. Some neighbors were too scared to go outside.

The SFFD did not respond to a request for comment by press time.

Captain Chris Canning, commanding officer of the Richmond Police Station, said he was very concerned about the situation and unable to find any calls for service after the fire.

"I'll make sure our night watch officers are aware and prioritize their patrols of the neighborhood," said Canning who asked any concerned neighbors to call and request a police response (9-1-1 for emergencies, 415-553-0123 for non-emergencies) if they are aware of a suspected crime. "I want to be sure officers can respond ASAP to investigate."

Canning also suggested neighbors to contact Richmond Station directly and check the SFPD Richmond Station website, https://www.sanfranciscopolice.org/stations/richmond-station, for information regarding upcoming meetings and other pertinent details.

According to the data listed by SFFD online, two complaints were received on April 7, 2024 for hoarding at that house on 22nd Avenue. The condition was corrected and inspections by SFFD were completed for both complaints on May 14, 2024 and May 17, 2024 respectively.

Because of the fire on March 8, 2025, a Notice of Violation was issued on March 10 to the owner. The case has been reassigned to the complaint investigation team in SFFD, according to SFFD.

Editor's note: The article has been updated to include additional information from Captain Canning of Richmond Police Station from the SFPD.