April 02--An 84-year-old woman died and six people were injured in a two-alarm fire that swept through a two-story home in San Francisco's Sunnydale neighborhood Tuesday night.
Distraught relatives said the woman who died was Jane Thompson, the family matriarch. Two of the injured are in critical condition.
As firefighters responded to reports of a fire at 25 Castillo St. at 5:25 p.m. a neighbor, Tim Lee, returned from an errand to find the home ablaze and one of the residents, Joe Thompson, lying on the ground outside. Thompson had jumped from a second-floor window to flee the flames, family said.
"His auntie was crying and screaming, so I grabbed her and held her while she cried," said Lee, 35. "I thought he was dead."
Joe Thompson survived the fire. His grandmother did not.
"She was our rock. We're all just very numb," said another grandson, Manuel Chavez, 29, who drove with his mother from their home in Concord when they realized it was their family's home on fire. "At least I got to kiss her one last time." He had arrived just as the ambulance was taking his grandmother away.
The six injured -- all family members -- range in age from their 30s to their 60s.
Five were taken to hospitals in the area. One refused treatment.
Vivian Ho is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: [email protected] Twitter: @VivianHo
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