Downtown San Diego is blanketed in a smoky haze this New Year's Eve as firefighters continue to shower a warehouse fire that began early Sunday evening.
The building caught fire at approximately 9pm on Sunday night, December 30, and continued to burn into Monday morning and afternoon, December 31. The fire broke out on the top floor of the two-story building, burning from the east end to the west. More than 100 firefighters were summoned to the scene.
The downtown warehouse stretches from Broadway to 15th Street and was home to six businesses that shared the building. The building is completely devastated with two internal businesses completely destroyed and a third severely damaged - including a discount dollar store and a limousine service. The damage thus far is at an estimated $2 million, according to Fire-Rescue Department spokesman Maurice Luque.
At 10pm Sunday night the surrounding streets were full of people from the neighborhood, standing on the sidewalks in awe and shock of a fire so near to their homes. Residents today in apartments on Broadway and E Street are waking up to smoke, covering their faces as they leave their apartments to navigate the new traffic caused by police barricades.
Only two months separate our city from the ravaging and heartbreaking October wildfires, but with no injuries reported and no homes destroyed, San Diego can be thankful that their fire-rescue crews are superior and quick to respond. If there's one thing we have learned as a city in reflection of 2007, we are sure we can rely on our ever-brave San Diego firefighters - no matter what.
The cause of the downtown San Diego fire is still unknown, and police advise downtown residents to stay clear of the scene, blocking off Broadway as soon as 19th as well as E street and the 14th and 15th blocks.
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