Two San Francisco Firefighters Call 'Mayday' After Plunging Through Floor

The firefighters, who were searching the unoccupied San Francisco building for victims, are in stable condition.

Oct. 15, 2025

2 min read

Dominic Fracassa

San Francisco Chronicle

(TNS)

Oct. 15—Two San Francisco firefighters were hospitalized Wednesday morning after falling through the floor of an unoccupied building while battling a blaze on the 2500 block of Chestnut Street, fire department officials said.

"At one point during the fire a mayday was called" after the two firefighters, who were not identified, fell from the third floor to the second floor of the building, San Francisco Fire Chief Dean Crispen said. They were pulled from the dwelling and hospitalized for evaluation of injuries sustained in the fall, Crispen said. Both were listed in stable condition Wednesday morning.

Firefighters first received a report of the fire in the city's Marina District around 4:15 Wednesday morning, Crispen said. Flames could be seen on the second floor of the building when firefighters arrived.

The building was apparently under construction, Crispen said, where uncovered walls and ongoing plumbing and electric work "probably... led to the rapid advancement of the fire."

Homes on either side of the burning building sustained damage, Crispen said.

By 7 a.m., the fire department reported that the blaze was contained and that four people in an adjacent house had been displaced.

The cause of the fire was not immediately clear.