Bomb Threat Evacuates 4100 Block Of Cesar Chavez

News today via Celia Sack of Omnivore Books that fire and police were converging on Noe Valley:

What's up Noe Valley? Police cars screaming in every direction!
— Omnivore Books (@omnivorebooks) May 3, 2013

She also Tweeted that Search/Rescue and HazMat were on the way, too. @bling0 confirmed with more detailed information:

Bomb squad in Noe Valley near Cesar Chavez and Castro. Residents told to evacuate area.
— Benjamin Ling (@bling0) May 3, 2013

Neighbor @coudron pinpointed the location and confirmed evacuation:

I was just asked to evacuate the 4100 block of Cesar Chavez because of a bomb threat. Anyone have updates?
— Chris Coudron (@coudron) May 3, 2013

And while we figured it wise to stay away, other neighbors were more adventurous. A nearby neighbor sent us the scoop:

I overhead some of the people who live in the building that was evacuated talking ... apparently a guy who lives in one of the units is a bit strange and recently has been getting stranger, possibly a paranoid schizophrenic. Over the last few months, he’s been switching numbers on people’s doors as if he doesn’t want someone to find him, leaving notes around the building about Donald Trump wanting to blow things up… fun stuff like that. Then today he called the police with a bomb scare, saying someone was trying to blow up the building. When the cops arrived they found some stuff in the front of the building that didn’t look right and decided to play it safe and call in the bomb squad. According to their report, the crazy neighbor was taken into custody by the police, screaming in the back of the police car. You can tell they were really tired of this guy.

Of course there will probably be more once the police start talking and the news crews figure out how to find this dead end street. Stay tuned.

@noevalleysf NBC investigative unit van just drove by heading up there (love when they all hit that dead end!).
— Omnivore Books (@omnivorebooks) May 3, 2013

Update 3:45pm:

Residents in San Francisco’s Noe Valley neighborhood are being evacuated this afternoon after police detained a man and then called the bomb squad to the area, a police spokesman said.

Around 12:40 p.m., police were notified about a suspicious person in the 4100 block of Cesar Chavez Street, Officer Gordon Shyy said.

Arriving officers found a man in the carport area of a residential building and detained him.

While responding, officers determined there were a suspicious object or substance in the area and called for the department’s bomb squad and hazardous materials team to come to the area.

Homes on the dead-end street were evacuated around 1:45 p.m. and the intersection of Castro and Cesar Chavez streets was blocked off to pedestrians and motorists, Shyy said.

As of 2:50 p.m., the area remained shut down.

No injuries have been reported, Shyy said.

Sasha Lekach, Bay City News

Update 4:30pm: The helicopters are gone.

Ok, people, show's over, no Noe bomb. Just a huge waste of taxpayer resources.#NoeValley #nobomb@noevalleysf
— Erika Was (@erikawas) May 3, 2013

This Week In Noe Valley: Bliss Bar To Rebuild, Church St. Renaissance, Top Restaurants Revisted

News from, about and for Noe Valley from around the interwebs:

• Bliss Bar to rebuild after investigators rule out arson [SF Appeal]
• East Bay writers/parents know that Church St is for kids, kids, kids, and kids [510 Families]
• Sanchez St remodel seeks LEED status - and bids in the $3M range [Socketsite]
• Contigo and La Ciccia make 7x7's Best-Of list [7x7]
• OTOH, Bauer says Incanto has slipped [SFGate]
• Pre-order your Philz Coffee online [@OrderAhead]

[Photo: embem30]

Aftermath: Bliss Bar Fire

We've updated yesterday's posts to include more info, but here's a summary in case you missed it:

• SFFD had to respond to Bliss Bar again last night when the fire reignited.
• The Red Cross was able to temporarily house all displaced persons, but is requesting help relocating some people for the long term.

The bar appears to be a total loss:

Bliss Bar the day after double burn. Preliminary assessment: electrical. #noevalley twitter.com/mbd2/status/29…
— mbd2 (@mbd2) February 5, 2013

[Photo: @saranoh]

Bliss Bar On Fire

According to witnesses on scene, black smoke erupted out the front of Bliss Bar at 4026 24th St at approximately 1:10PM today. SFFD responded quickly and shut it down by 1:30. SFFD Chief Tom stated that the location of the fire's origin was identified but that the cause remains under investigation. There were no reported injuries.

The building owner and multiple tenants of the affected and surrounding buildings were on scene, as was Bliss Bar owner Pierre Letheule. All were ok, but worried about next steps. The first floor suffered major damage, and firefighters were digging upward in the ceiling tracing the fire's path. It looks like the second floor tenants (at least) will need to find shelter tonight. The Red Cross hadn't made it on scene yet.

Here's how it played out on Twitter:

The horror: three engine fire in neighborhood bar, Bliss, brave firefighters plunged right in. #noevalley @joanwalsh twitter.com/soniafaleiro/s…
— Sonia Faleiro (@soniafaleiro) February 4, 2013

whoa! (news on vine too) RT @hunterwalk: Fire on 24th st noe valley just started. Fire trucks arriving. vine.co/v/bnuOqmVhEWb
— Ryan Sarver (@rsarver) February 4, 2013

Looks like Bliss Bar in #noevalley has caught fire twitter.com/alaina/status/…
— Alaina Percival (@alaina) February 4, 2013

Turning off the gas. #Bliss #NoeValley fire under control now. Second major fire on 24th St Noe in past two years. twitter.com/soniafaleiro/s…
— Sonia Faleiro (@soniafaleiro) February 4, 2013

After containment awning burst into flames. Cripes! #NoeValley #Bliss @leesalahney @sfgirlbybay @joanwalsh @nerdychick twitter.com/soniafaleiro/s…
— Sonia Faleiro (@soniafaleiro) February 4, 2013

#blissbar fire's out...and bar level looks like RadioShack did - saw ladders going up to 2nd floor :( #noevalley #sanfrancisco
— Lisa D. Gray (@randomlisasf) February 4, 2013

And here are some photos from the scene:

Update (2/5): The fire reignited about 8:30PM.

Reports: The fire is at Bliss Bar (again), it has rekindled from earlier today. #NoeValley
— Sal Castaneda (@sal_castaneda) February 5, 2013

5 SFFD trucks on scene at #noevalley fire on 24th Street. Examining surrounding bldgs for reports of smoke.yfrog.com/odbhydhj
— Karl Wong (@karlsf) February 5, 2013

Firefighters are making sure the fire at Bliss is out this time = they're pretty much gutting the building. #chainsaws #NoeValley #SFFD
— Sal Castaneda (@sal_castaneda) February 5, 2013

NVV Dec 2012: We Read It So You Don't Have To

The Noe Valley Voice is published ten times a year and has been a neighborhood fixture since 1977. Here are notable highlights from the latest issue. Links are to stories we've covered here on NVSF or outside sources as the Voice doesn't post stories until the middle of the month.

December 2012

Front Page: Life at the local Fire Houses (the kind that still have active crews); A profile of Upper Noe Neighbor's Vicki Rosen; A profile of local bars, bistros and wine shops that seeks to dispel the belief that Noe Valley is full of sleepy old people.

Letters: One resident is unhappy with the NVV's recent "good report card" for Scott Wiener; Another appreciates coverage of families dealing with recent fires.

Feature: Local senior centers keep their doors open through tight times.

Cost of Living in Noe: "There's not of lot of [sales] difference to report this month." Still expensive. Solution: "Buy a condo."

Store Trek: DAVIDsTea.

Rumors: A promo for 24 HoliDAYS on 24th St; A promo for the recently released Noe Valley Guide to promote the neighborhood to tourists; Cliché Noe owner wants to create a Noe Valley Museum and bring back the Pioneer - "the first motor car built on the West Coast" to the shop where is was built on 24th St and that could house it permanently [Ed.--cool!]; Someone cleaned Harry Aleo's plaque; Election results ("Maintaining an Election"); The Tech Search Party is February 2nd; Bidding farewell to Claire Pilcher, founder of Friends of Noe Valley, who died recently at the age of 73.


[The Noe Valley Voice]

2-Alarm Fire On Jersey St

It's been a busy day for sirens in Noe Valley. First there was a shooter on the loose on Church Street, and then this afternoon a 2-alarm fire broke out on the top floor of a three-story building at 276 Jersey St. The fire started at around 2:35pm and spread to a second building before being extinguished by firefighters within an hour. According to witnesses in the vicinity, there weren't many flames - just lots of smoke. As of late this afternoon, you can still smell it in the area.

Fortunately it appears no one was hurt and The Red Cross was on the scene to help displaced residents. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Update: A SF fire department spokesperson told CBS that the fire caused an estimated $151,000 in damage to the first building and destroyed $77,000 worth of contents. The adjacent building sustained about $132,000 in structural damage and $63,000 in damage to its contents.

[2-Alarm Fire Burns Residential Buildings In San Francisco Noe Valley - CBS]
[Photo of the fire damaged buildings - NVSF]

Another Noe Valley House Fire

There have been a few big fires around the City in the last few weeks, including the two-alarm fire on 24th St (don't forget the benefit this Thursday) and the porch fire at 1209 Church that attracted all the early morning helicopters on Friday. There was another on Sunday at 22nd and Sanchez. We weren't around, but a Upper Noe neighbor sent us the above picture, adding that it was taken just after the SFFD arrived about 5:30pm.

Here's a little more info on today's fire from Twitter:

whitney Whitney Hills 

Something is seriously on fire in Noe Valley. I can smell smoke over on Valencia.

discomaz Marisol Segal 

Anyone is noe valley know what's going on? i hear threes a fire on sanchez and 22nd.

Emergency_In_SF Emergency_In_SF 

FIRE: heavy smoke as firefighters arrive (on yet another) fire at Sanchez & 22nd in Noe/Castro/Mission area. yfrog.com/j25d7p

ingerhogstrom ingerhogstrom 

@Emergency_In_SF looks like fire dept has it under control, this was several mins ago when they'd just arrived yfrog.com/nu9tyncj

Can anyone provide more details? Opportunities for providing assistance?

[NVSF: Benefit for the Noe Valley 24th Street Fire Victims]

2-Alarm Fire On 24th Street

A fire engulfed the upper unit of the building housing Radio Shack this afternoon. In case you missed the smoke but heard the sirens, here's KGO's official report:

A fire at an apartment in Noe Valley burned for 45 minutes before it was brought under control on Saturday.

The fire was reported shortly before 3:30 p.m. Saturday at a home along 24th Street between Noe and Castro in San Francisco.

Firefighters called a second alarm for the blaze at 3:57 p.m. Smoke from the fire could be seen for miles.

Firefighters were able to bring the fire under control shortly after 4:25 p.m.

The fire was contained to one structure that houses several apartment buildings. It's not known if anyone was inside those apartments at the time of the fire.

There were no injuries associated with the blaze.

Twitter was more helpful:

catherineberg Catherine Bergstrom 

Omg! Huge fire on 24th Street in Noe Valley! Fire in apartments above Radio Shack.

LisaP Lisa Picarille 

there must be a huge fire in noe valley, the mission is flooded with smoke and fire trucks were headed up 24th towards NV

gregorypeebles Gregory Peebles 

there was a huge fire in an apartment and the whole neighborhood is full of smoke. @ 24th Street Noe Valley instagr.am/p/MuvCb/

ldgarc Luis Garcia 

Ack. Big fire in Noe Valley right now. Hope peeps are ok.twitpic.com/6j2cnk

thevalueofpie Jennifer Leonard 

Narrowly escaped the billows of black cloud and ashfall from massive house fire in Noe Valley. Scary.

murphstahoe murphstahoe 

Wife called - "not going to whole foods, noe valley is all messed up. What's going on, check your twitter...."

brettemerson Brett Emerson 

Fire trucks in Noe Valley @ Downtown Noe Valleyinstagr.am/p/Mu8il/

jimgoldstein Jim Goldstein 

Photo: Today’s fire in Noe Valley. 3 ladder trucks, 6+ engines and 2 ambulances #sanfrancisco #sffd (Taken... http://j.mp/oqxB6S

blizzzz Dave Blizard 

Looks like the fire was contained to the Radio Shack building. The upper unit is trashed. :( Noe valley fire lockerz.com/s/137647530

ESBAle Richard Brewer-Hay 

Mission accomplished. Thanks for all that you do. #SFFD @ Pasta Pomodoro - Noe instagr.am/p/MvNLp/

KGO reports no injuries, but clearly at least one family was displaced. Does anyone have any info about where they will sleep tonight? Did the American Red Cross show up?

How can Noe Valley help?

[Photo: Jim M. Goldstein]