Local
Two-Alarm Fire Destroys Abandoned Warehouse in Hunters Point Shipyard
A two-alarm fire early Wednesday morning leveled an abandoned warehouse on Manseau Street in the Hunters Point Shipyard, prompting a Haz Mat response over concerns about residual radiological contamination at the former naval site.
A two-alarm fire early Wednesday morning destroyed an abandoned warehouse on Manseau Street in the Hunters Point Shipyard, according to the San Francisco Fire Department.
The blaze broke out around 3:30 a.m. Crews entered the building for a quick primary search, determined it was empty, and then switched to defensive operations, battling the flames from outside as the fire engulfed the entire structure. A second alarm was called, and the fire was contained around 6:30 a.m.
The department's hazardous materials team was brought in to monitor firefighters for possible radiological contamination. The shipyard is the site of the former Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory, which operated during the World War II era and left residual contamination behind.
A cleanup effort over the past two decades was ultimately found to be incomplete. In August, former Navy contractor Tetra Tech agreed to pay a $97 million settlement over allegations that its radiation remediation work was botched and that employees had faked radiological testing data.
Wednesday's fire occurred in a building in the middle of the shipyard area that was previously or is still contaminated, raising concerns about what the smoke and destruction may have disturbed.
No injuries were immediately reported. The cause of the fire is under investigation.