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Team coverage tonight — didn’t know sparklingallison was also on the case but it’s nice to have her additional photos.
- Mobile report with photos
- Sparklingallison’s photos She managed to get a shot when building was still on fire, btw
- My initial report
Building looked empty and has been for sale. People who lived nearby said no sign of squatters, etc. No injuries was the word on the street. Quite a crowd assembled to check everything out. Lots of cameras so should see a lot more images from the night. Will check in with SFD in the morning to see what they know.
UPDATE 7:26a: Fire department confirms house was vacant. Puts damage at $150k. Flames were first reported at 10:30p. No cause known at this time.
UPDATE 12:02a: The comment below by JoeHalfRack sounds similar to the situation described in this nearby incident reported in the Central District News police scanner report last week.
11/7/2008 11:35AM – 500 Belmont Ave E – Rousting – A property owner was told by neighbors that squatters were in his vacant building yesterday. Not sure if they’re still there
Google Maps says that’s next door.
Here’s the Google Street View of the area.
I just talked to my building manager (I live at the Corona Apts just across the street) and she said the SPD removed 17 homeless people yesterday and she was told to call if she saw anyone else entering the building. Earlier today exactly that happened and she and the manager of the building across the street met and called the police together. She didn’t know if anyone else had been removed from the building but I could see this as some kind of retaliation
The actual address of the building is 500 Belmont Ave E. (The apts next door are at 506 Belmont Ave E). This is one of the weird intersections where the hundred blocks match (500 block of E Republican St meets 500 block of Belmont Ave E) and the address must have gotten miscommunicated to SFD during the initial excitement.
And it appears that police activity there has been documented in the past as well:
http://www.centraldistrictnews.com/2008/11/07/cdnews-police-
Thanks for the info, Blurt. The 911 page has been updated today to list the address as 502 Belmont Ave E.
Also, here are the updated google map views of the property: along Republican and along Belmont.
According to Parcel Viewer, 502, 504 and 508 Belmont all have the same property owner who purchased these properties in July 2006.
That house used to have a Land Use Notification sign on it saying that it and the houses to the North of it were going to be demolished and turned into a big (I think 4 or 6 story) apartment building. I read that sign a while ago, probably almost a year ago, but I’m sure it was at that location.
Last night (around 2am) i talked to a fireman on the scene and he said some squatters lit it on fire. He looked tired.
If address corrections are confusing you, it’s “the one with all the crap in the yard” including this interesting foreshadowing on the side.
