San Francisco: Huge Fire in a Warehouse

A fire engulfed a warehouse on San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf early Saturday, sending a thick plume of smoke over the waterfront and threatening to spread to a historic World War II-era ship before firefighters brought the flames under control.

One firefighter sustained a hand injury while battling the fire at the warehouse the size of a football field on Pier 45, San Francisco Fire Lt. Jonathan Baxter said.

Baxter said after the fire subsided, investigators scoured the building to determine whether homeless people were inside.

"That is something of grave concern. That is why we're actively trying to confirm if anybody saw anybody in this building," he told KGO-TV.

"To our knowledge ... nobody is supposed to be in the building and we are hoping ... that there is no victim," he said.

However, at least two workers told the San Francisco Chronicle they were inside the fish processing and storage warehouse when the fire broke out before dawn.

Alejandro Arellano, who works for La Rocca Seafood, was cleaning out a fish storage locker when the fire began, shortly after 4 a.m..

"I saw a lot of smoke. A few minutes later, fire everywhere," he said. "It was very, very scary. I've never seen anything like it."

The fire tore through the warehouse near the end of the concrete pier, causing its walls to collapse, Baxter said. The flames singed the first fire truck to respond to the scene, forcing firefighters to turn their hoses on the vehicle to save it, he said.

More than 130 firefighters fought the flames, with some using ladder trucks to drench the warehouse from above. A fire boat was used to protect the SS Jeremiah O'Brien, a liberty ship that stormed Normandy on D-Day in 1944.

"Our firefighters...

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