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Woman recounts rescue from burning apartment building in San Francisco

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Published  August 24, 2022 6:13pm PDT
San Francisco
KTVU FOX 2

Aftermath of San Francisco apartment fire

KTVU's Christien Kafton reports.

SAN FRANCISCO - A fire that tore through a three-story apartment building in San Francisco drew more than 100 firefighters to the scene.

Tabitha Lahr was rescued from the burning building and recalled when firefighters came to her aid.

She remembers taking a lungful of smoke when she opened her front door and calling out to firefighters. When she was removed from the building she was taken to a local hospital for smoke inhalation.

"The main smoke inhalation was when I opened the door to yell for them, and the blast came in," said Lahr. "So, they (hospital staff) had to monitor me because apparently, they said that smoke damage to the lungs can happen gradually over the course of two or three hours."

Lahr said she had mentally prepared herself for the very possibility, even running a fire drill at home, trying to figure out how she would rescue her two cats.

Massive fire at San Francisco apartment building injures three, leaves 13 displaced

A 3-alarm fire is burning at what appears to be an apartment building in San Francisco near McCallister Street and Divisadero Street.

When the time came she was able to scoop one cat into a carrier and managed to find the second hiding in a closet.

She says despite a fear of heights she had to follow the firefighters out onto a weakened roof and down the aerial ladder to safety.

"And I said 'Girl, you're going to go down a ladder,'" said Lahr. "'You are going to go down a ladder from the roof, and you're just going to have to do it!' And that's what I did, and I still can't believe it."

Nearby businesses were also impacted.

Oasis Cafe, which is located on the groundfloor of the building, is a popular neighborhood gathering space.

"My place is an icon to the neighborhood too, to get together here," said Taddesse Haile from Oasis Cafe. "I allow the community to have meetings here, Yeah, my place is the main place to know each other."

Haile says in addition to all the water and smoke damage inside, he'll also have to get rid of all the food he'd already bought.

He says the neighborhood pulled together through the pandemic, and he's hoping they pull together once more to help his business survive.

"I don't know what I'm going to do," said Haile. "These days our income is limited, and we have been struggling to survive. So, we'll see how it's going to work."