Overnight Fire Burns Old Strand Theater Building

Jun. 8 - KGO (KGO) -- An overnight fire damaged a building that used to house a landmark San Francisco theater.

It was a massive fire at the old Strand Theater on Market Street where San Franciscans used to come to the movies.

The roof caught fire around midnight last night. The building is empty, but the fire was so huge, that firefighters evacuated the residential hotel two doors down until they could extinguish the fire.

Firefighters say homeless people often gather on the roof of the Strand and sometimes start little fires to keep themselves warm. So the arson team will be looking into how the enormous fire started.

The good news is that firefighters were able to save the building.

Asst. Chief James Barden, San Francisco Fire Dept.: "It was a pretty good size fire up there &15, 20 feet in the air. It could be seen from quite a distance but it was all contained to the roof so it didn't get into the building itself."

No one was hurt in the fire.

The building is located on Market Street, just down from 7th Street in a rundown part of the city, right across from U.N. Plaza.

The Strand Theater is now empty as is the building next door.

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