BENICIA (CBS SF) — Nearly 24 hours after it ignited in flames, firefighters finally extinguished a four-alarm blaze Sunday afternoon that gutted a commercial pier along the Benicia waterfront.

Left behind in the fire’s wake was a jumbled pile of burned and charred timbers and melted asphalt.

The US Coast Guard issued a warning boaters traveling in the busy channel to also be aware of the debris floating in the water.

“The fire caused extensive damage to the facility,” said Cmdr. Rhianna Macon, U.S. Coast Guard Deputy Incident Commander. “As such, there is an uncertain amount of debris in the area that could be potentially hazardous to boaters. We urge mariners to remain vigilant and stay safe on the water.”

Fire officials said the blaze was declared contained at 9:40 am and was declared extinguished at 12:24 pm The Solano County Fire Investigation Unit was currently working to determine the cause and origin.

According to Benicia Fire Chief Jose Chadwick the incident began around 2:20 pm Saturday with crews being called to the wharf area for a fire near the petcoke silos. Petcoke is a byproduct of the oil refining process.

Port workers reported they first saw flames burning the conveyor belt that was transporting petroleum coke onto a ship.

“That fire was quickly extinguished but we had a very difficult time accessing the conveyor belt system,” he said. “The large rubber tracks (of the conveyor belts) were on fire. The fire dropped from that conveyor belt and ultimately caught the pier on fire.”

The fire burned in the wooden support structure that had been treated years ago with creosote — a wood preservative.

“There are large timbers that are creosote soaked logs and when they start burning it’s very difficult to extinguish,” Chadwick said. “That’s what’s burning now.”

A KPIX camera captured footage of what appeared to be black dust floating on the water. The San Francisco Baykeeper also shared drone footage showing black streaks floating near the fire.

Benicia city officials said the US Coast Guard and the Fish and Wildlife were monitoring the environmental impact on the bay.

“It has been a very, very difficult situation to extinguish,” Chadwick said.

The only way to fight was via fire boats, which have limited access depending on the tide. Six fire boats from around the Bay Area were sent to the scene, as well as US Coast Guard vessels.

A fire boat battles a 4-alarm blaze in Benicia Saturday

Aside from the flames, the massive smoke plume was also of concern.

“The biggest potential threat to the community was air quality,” Chadwick said. “The smoke emitting from the fire contained particulate matter and the potential of toxicity from chemicals. We were fortunate in having continuous wind blowing from the west, allowing the smoke to blow towards the water and dissipate before impacting other populated areas.”

Neighbors where also thankful the winds blew the smoke away from Benicia. Particularly those at a wedding that took place right above the port fire.

The bride and groom said they weren’t expecting to see an active fire burning so close on their big day.

“Thankfully, God is blowing (the fire) the other way. But we’re getting a lot of coverage of the wedding and the fire,” said Steve Roberts, the groom’s godfather.

“Thank the lord we’re good to go. They’re married. We get to party now and have a good time,” said Matt Roberts, groom’s godbrother.

The dock is owned by the city of Benicia and leased to Amports, which uses it to offload imported vehicles from freighters. It is also used by the Valero Benicia Refinery.

Many car dealerships have already faced a shortage of new cars. Amports’ general manager said no comment when reached by phone. It was unclear if the fire would worsen the shortage of new cars at Bay Area dealerships.

“It’s certainly going to be an economic impact on Amports and Valero,” said Mario Giuliani, the deputy city manager for Benicia.

Despite the potential economic fallout, city officials said there were no injuries and health concerns for Benicia residents.

© Copyright 2022 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. KPIX reporter Da Lin contributed to the story

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A Tudor mansion in Russian Hill once owned by actor Nicolas Cage is finally under contract after years on the market.

The six-bedroom, six-and-a-half-bathroom home at 898 Francisco Street was owned by the actor in the late 2000s for just a few years, though there are no reports he actually lived in the house at all. He sold it at a loss in July 2008 for $7.7 million.

In its recent quest to find a buyer, the home was originally listed for sale in February 2017 for $12 million. The price dropped to $11 million later that year and was then removed from the market for most of 2018. It was relisted for $11 million in October 2018 and later had its price slashed yet again on March 4, 2020 to $10 million. The home was listed and removed two more times before its current pending sale price.

In addition to the 1914 home, an adjacent 40×60 ft. lot was also available for sale with the home for $3 million. Listing agent Mark Levinson with Compass declined to comment on whether this was included in the sale and didn’t want to comment further to SFGATE on the pending offer.

When SFGATE spoke to Levinson in 2019, he called the house a “fixer.” “People look at it as a fixer,” said Levinson at the time. “There are only a certain amount of people who have that kind of money and that kind of bandwidth. People in this price range are so busy and don’t have time for a renovation. Homes that do sell tend to be renovated and gorgeous. I think if the house were done, it would sell overnight.”

Based on previous photos, it looks like some of those renovations, especially in the kitchen, have been completed. The home also features a gym, a wine cellar, an attached two-car garage, garden and sweeping views from most rooms.

This area of ​​Russian Hill is sometimes known as the city’s “Gold Coast” and the block boasts many wealthy and well-known owners. Steve Jobs’ widow Laurene Powell Jobs purchased an 1888 mansion of similar size in 2018 in an all-cash, $16.5 million deal just down the street.

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SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KRON) – As San Francisco drops its indoor mask mandate, hope for returning to somewhat of a normal continues as large city events will return this year.

San Francisco Pride, which usually draws millions of people to the city, will finally return this year with in-person celebrations and the big parade for the first time since the pandemic began.

San Francisco Pride plans to come back bigger and better this year after cancellations of its large in-person events over the last two years.

KRON4 first reported on the return of the in-person pride parade and weekend celebrations in January but now businesses and city leaders are gearing up as COVID restrictions start to dwindle.

“For a lot of our community, Pride is bigger than any holiday of the year you know? It’s a time when we can be free,” Jolene Linsangan said.

Jolene Linsangan owns a queer bar, Jolene’s, in the Mission District. She says San Francisco Pride not only embraces its community but it also brings in business for queer spaces, something that’s desperately needed since the beginning of the pandemic.

“It’s really going to help us out. We lost a year and even without the pandemic, it’s really hard for our spaces to survive and so that one time of year which is the biggest celebration is where we get a lot of our income to stay afloat,” Linsangan said.

In addition to planning special events at Jolene’s over Pride weekend, Linsangan also wants to take on an even larger production this year as executive director of the women’s stage.

“That means the world to me. Knowing that I’ve been producing women’s events for 15+ years now I get to really showcase the people I’ve been working with,” Linsangan said.

The two-day celebration and rally will take place on June 25 and 26. While a full schedule of events isn’t out yet, city Supervisor Rafael Mandelman says the city will continue to adjust as needed, but he’s hopeful for the Pride show that San Francisco know-how to throw.

“We have to be adaptable and resilient as we’ve been these last couple of years. I don’t think we know exactly what COVID 19 holds in store for this year but if we are in fact moving into the endemic phase of COVID, we’re hoping it will feel a lot like pride did back before,” Supervisor Rafael Mandelman said.

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Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons user Octagon

The insane buzz of the safety slats on the pedestrian handrails of the Golden Gate Bridge is finally being silenced following a recent proposal from the Bridge District.

The fix – developed and tested by bridge engineers in consultation with aerodynamics and acoustics experts – provides for U-shaped clips with a thin rubber sleeve to be attached to all 12,000 vertical battens of the railing. – The San Francisco Chronicle

The haunted acoustic hum is the direct result of a $ 12 million wind retrofit project created by the Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District. A few enterprising locals made the most of the deafening noise, although the majority of motorists in the Bay Area were vocal about it, which led to the change.

The newly approved upgrades will install a series of sound-absorbing rubber clips along the bridge’s pedestrian walkway, which the San Francisco Chronicle says can mitigate the impact of the larger wind safety louvers by up to 75%. The cost is approximately $ 450,000 and will be fully installed by the end of next year provided there are no major delays.

“It’s a tricky business. We want to be absolutely sure that we are doing it right, ”said bridge spokesman Paolo Cosulich-Schwartz to the Chronicle in May. “We will never sacrifice the structural integrity of the bridge, but we want to be responsive to our neighbors.”

Related Articles About Archinect You May Be Interested In …

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But only this weekend as a pop-up at Gott’s in the Ferry Building in San Francisco. Branded as an outdoor birthday do-over party, the pop-up is to take place on Saturday and Sunday from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m.

The company had already pointed out the pop-up when it announced the DoorDash partnership last month, but only recently revealed the full details. This is the first time the goodies have been available in San Francisco as the DoorDash delivery service was only on the peninsula.

It will feature many of the trendy dessert shop’s famous goodies – powdered truffles, their infamous renamed cake, and granola-soft serve – as well as a variety of specialty sundaes filled with Gott’s vanilla and chocolate soft ice cream.

For those who cannot slip into the Embarcadero, there is also a tasting of the Milk Bar at all Gott’s locations: A Compost Cookie Shake made from the decadent sweet and salty biscuits of the bakery is available from mid-September at every Gott’s location in the Bay Area, the company announced.

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The San Francisco 49ers’ quarterback situation was one of the strangest stories of the entire NFL off-season. Jimmy Garoppolo has been the alleged starter for almost day 1.

Even after the 49ers sent a ton of picks to the Miami Dolphins to move up to the third selection and eventually choose Trey Lance, Garoppolo was the “undisputed starter.”

While things have changed to some extent in the past few weeks, it was still the popular belief that Garoppolo would start over Lance.

Less than a week before their season opener against the Detroit Lions, the 49ers seemed to have finally made that announcement. They did this without saying anything. Garoppolo is due to speak to the media around noon Pacific time on Wednesday. This is the day the NFL quarterbacks speak to the media.

Click here for our preview of Detroit Lions vs. San Francisco 49ers Week 1

Why the cat-and-mouse game from Kyle Shanahan, head coach of the San Francisco 49ers?

May 25, 2021; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers quarterbacks Trey Lance (5) and Jimmy Garoppolo (10) throw the soccer ball during organized team activities at the San Francisco 49ers Training Facility. Mandatory Credit: Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports

Even after San Francisco’s preseason final against the Las Vegas Raiders, Shanahan stopped short of naming Garoppolo quarterback. It did so around the same time that the NFL’s proposals concluded that Lance should start over his veteran counterpart.

It also came immediately after the 49ers’ general manager John Lynch, possibly out of turn, saying that Lance “challenges” Garoppolo for the QB1 job.

Given his silence on the matter, chances are Shanahan would want opposing teams to have to plan for both Garoppolo and Lance. However, this has apparently always been the case after seeing San Francisco use the # 3 rookie during the exhibit board. Lance is expected to be in the field for some packages during the regular year.

A star in the state of North Dakota, Lance surpassed Garoppolo in the preseason. While this should be treated with caution, it has led to speculation that there was a real quarterback competition in Santa Clara – something that Shanahan and Co. have pushed back against.

In his three full seasons with the San Francisco 49ers, Garoppolo has missed 23 out of a possible 48 games. In the field, it wasn’t a question of productivity. The former New England Patriots second-round pick has set a 22-8 record in 30 starts with San Francisco and scored 46 touchdowns against 26 interceptions.

It remains to be seen whether that kind of success will give Garoppolo a longer leash after the regular season starts. At this point the leash appears to be quite short. Time will tell on this front.

San Francisco is currently a 7.5 point favorite on the road against a supposedly bad Lions team in Week 1. Should Garoppolo struggle, we will learn more about the 49ers’ quarterback situation. The bank can bet on that.

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A six year vacant lot will soon have a new Safeway and other retail stores at 180 El Camino Real in South San Francisco after the 14 acre site was purchased by real estate developer SteelWave.

Safeway and the developer’s top priority is to build a new 63,000 square foot grocery store on the corner of El Camino Real and Spruce Avenues, as well as additional small retail stores in the neighborhood. Your goal is to have Safeway and stores up and running in a year.

“This is one of the most exciting developments I’ve been associated with since moving to South San Francisco. And I know this is going to sound strange since this is a Safeway mall, but given the amount of community drama around this place and its importance, it’s a great relief to see this vacant lot moving forward and to the streetscape of South San Francisco contributes. ”Said manager Mike Futrell.

The city had implemented various plans to revitalize the site and the city council approved a new Safeway store in 2016. The vacant lot was a big topic of conversation in the community as it is a very prominent area in South San Francisco. Many residents asked the city council in meetings and emails what was being done for the development, he said.

The previous owner tried to redevelop the site and get a city council-approved plan for a safeway, residential areas, and shops, but the high cost of construction meant they never got the funding together to make it work, Futrell said.

“The escalation in construction costs is a real barrier to building anything, be it a Safeway or affordable housing or anything else,” he said.

Negotiations are ongoing and other parts of the site could potentially include more retail, restaurants and a gym.

Applicants propose improvements to the site plan and appearance of the building, and these revisions are reviewed by the Design Review Board and the Planning Commission. The Safeway store and associated retail space will comprise approximately 3 acres of the 14 acre site. Further uses for the rest of the property are in the conceptual planning and are being examined by the city.

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But one of Elon Musk’s homes – a historic mansion south of San Francisco that the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX calls a “special place” – wasn’t sold when Musk dumped the rest of his $ 100 million real estate portfolio (despite being listed was). on Zillow for a while.)

In the early hours of Monday morning, Musk announced on Twitter (via a reply to an earlier tweet from him) that he had actually decided to “sell my last house. I just have to live with a large family that will live there . It’s a special place. “

Decided to sell my last remaining house. Just have to go to a large family that will live there. It’s a special place.

– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 14, 2021

The “special” home in the Bay Area is likely this historic 100 year old mansion in Hillsborough on the San Francisco Peninsula.

The 16,000 square meter mansion sits on 47 acres of lawns, gardens and private walking trails.

There are 10 bedrooms and nine and a half bathrooms inside, in addition to a ballroom, large formal banquet room, flower arrangement room, and library. Outside there is a detached 3 car garage, an 8 car carport and a truck stop.

In May 2020, we reported that Musk had listed the property on Zillow, although records show the listing was removed in November 2020. The property was re-listed for $ 37.5 million per Zillow yesterday, which coincided with Musk’s tweet. (The previous list price was $ 35 million, down $ 2.5 million. Records show the house was bought for $ 23.4 million in 2017.)

One of the homes Musk sold last year was a Los Angeles mansion previously owned by iconic comic book actor Gene Wilder, whom Musk made a special request to when they sold it. “Only one condition for the sale: I own Gene Wilder’s old house. It can’t be torn down or lose its soul, ”Musk tweeted in May 2020. That house was eventually sold to Wilder’s nephew for $ 7 million.

Musk is currently believed to be living in a property in Boca Chica, Texas that was rented from his aerospace company SpaceX.

In a recent interview with Mathias Döpfner, Musk said that one of his motivations for selling his property is to prove to people that he is serious about bringing people to Mars.

“I’m just trying to make it clear that I’m serious,” said Musk. “And it’s not about personal consumption. Because people attack me and say, oh, he has all these possessions. He has all these houses. Okay, now I don’t have them.”

According to Forbes, Musk is currently worth around $ 154 billion.

Tessa McLean, local editor for SFGATE, contributed to this story.

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Business owners across the city have waited patiently to find out if San Francisco mask rules and capacity limits would actually be lifted when they moved on on the 15th. And now we know.

Late on Tuesday, the Mayor of London Breed and Acting Health Officer Dr. Susan Philip announced during a webinar that starting June 15, the city will conform to state guidelines and lift capacity limits in bars, restaurants, gyms and other businesses. There have been several weeks of doubt as to whether SF would be stricter than the state as a whole, but no.

That probably also means that nightclubs will become nightclubs again and that we no longer have to perform the socially distant dance in the supermarket.

Except for very large events – defined as over 5,000 people indoors or over 10,000 people outdoors – no more masks will be needed anywhere unless a single company continues to need them.

However, you still need a mask on Muni trains and buses – these are the recommendations of the CDC, masks for local public transport until at least September. And, as we learned Wednesday morning, the Cal / OSHA board of directors is meeting to discuss a possible reversal of its guidelines on masks in workplaces where one or more employees are not vaccinated.

As reported by Eater, Breed urged the San Franciscans to be kind and patient with one another as we navigate this late transition to the pandemic – for you know there will be some people who will wear these masks indoors and outdoors all summer.

“We’re finally moving back to a certain level of normalcy,” Breed allegedly said. “Let me say that. It’s going to be a big change. The city comes to life, but not everyone moves at the same pace … so let’s remember that the last year has been tough for everyone. So have a little patience and a little grace. If you see someone wearing a mask and the rules say they don’t need to, just leave them alone. It is nobody’s business if they want to wear their mask. Maybe they feel so good. “

As SFist discussed yesterday, San Francisco is better off than most cities, even within California, when it comes to vaccination rates, and we could even achieve herd immunity in about three weeks. However, as Dr. UCSF’s Monica Gandhi says its whether or not infection rates will rise at all once all restrictions are lifted and people mingle again in public. Only the unvaccinated are really at risk, but in theory, when the city reaches levels that can be described as herd immunity, infected and unvaccinated people arriving from outside the city should not be able to trigger outbreaks, and the rate of new infections every day increases in SF should stay as low as it is now.

In the short term, this means that things like Stern Grove and Pride parties, which used to act cautiously and cap the number of tickets sold, can open the floodgates knowing the city won’t hold them back from next week.

But are everyone ready to be on a crowded dance floor again?

Photo courtesy of Audio

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Emily Landes

May 8, 2021Updated May 9, 2021 9:56 AM

It took over five years and millions in price cuts, but 2820 Scott Street eventually sold for $ 17.5 million.

When we wrote about the mansion last spring, listing agent Olivia Hsu Decker was optimistic that a $ 6.5 million price cut and the large square of the house would make it re-attractive to pandemic buyers.

But after that price cut, it took almost a year to sell the house, despite Hsu Decker saying there were lots of tight calls and higher offers. “I had higher bids of $ 25 million, $ 22 million, and $ 20 million, but buyers pulled out of escrow when they got conversion estimates from their designers,” she said.

It seems ironic that design would be the theme for the former San Francisco Decorator’s Showcase Home, but Hsu Decker said the 117-year-old mansion simply had no connection with the young families who made up the bulk of interested buyers. “The reason this house didn’t sell earlier was mainly because of the style issue,” she said. “It’s a very ornate Italian-style mansion from 1904 that has been decorated with beautiful antiques but very heavy and ornate furniture and antique art. It feels like living in a European museum. Unfortunately, this is not The Trendy Style Buyers Want Most buyers for very large villas like this one are much younger families with young children, many in the high tech industry, who want contemporary and simpler styles and floor plans that are appropriate for the casual lifestyle of a youngster Family. “

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