Fire Erupts Under San Francisco Central Freeway

A massive plume of smoke was seen Tuesday afternoon as a fire exploded under San Francisco’s Central Freeway.

Firefighters were seen battling the blaze at around 12:40 p.m. on Division Street in the SoMa neighborhood. Multiple fire trucks responded to the scene and the aftermath appeared to show the charred remains of a homeless encampment.

A 911 caller described a man setting tarps on fire near a tent, said San Francisco Fire Department Captain Justin Schorr. The department was alerted at 12:36 p.m. and responded in under a minute. The fire was extinguished in under five minutes.

San Francisco police officers were seen questioning a man at the scene who was placed in handcuffs.

Allen Joyner sat on a curb and cried after losing everything he said he owned. “It was all my stuff,” he told The Standard.

Joyner became the second man on the scene to be cuffed and led away by police after a woman handed him a blanket.

A police officer at the scene told The Standard there was a fire at a homeless encampment. Police were contacted to clarify whether an arrest was made but did not immediately respond.

There are no apparent delays in traffic or road closures. Cars are passing me back and forth on Division Street without issue. Traffic on the freeway lanes above endured a brief slowdown.

This is a developing story.