Around 4:20 p.m. Saturday, a fire erupted at 443 Castro Street — just feet away from the 102-year-old Castro Theatre that’s currently under an expansive renovation.
While hundreds of thousands of concertgoers were out inside SF’s Golden Gate Park for Outside Lands 2024, a fire burned inside the single-story commercial building home to a USA Bank branch in the city’s Castro neighborhood.
UPDATE
The Castro Theater is safe and NOT affected.
This fire at 443 Castro, a single-story bank, is contained with no injuries and no displacements. This fire is under investigation. https://t.co/j0XlIdPcbZ pic.twitter.com/nlxritUAD0
— SAN FRANCISCO FIRE DEPARTMENT MEDIA (@SFFDPIO) August 10, 2024
The San Francisco Fire Department (SFFD) responded quickly, arriving on the scene before 4:30 p.m. Saturday, August 10th. According to initial reports, the fire, which erupted next door to the historied Castro Theatre — the beloved SF venue that’s been at the center of hyperlocal controversy since Another Planet (APE) announced its plans to modernize the 1,407-seat space; renovations are currently underway and are expected to be revealed when the Castro Theatre reopens in 2025 — was contained shortly after fire crews arrived. The Castro Theatre was left unscathed.
“[The fire] is [next door] to the historical Castro theater,” the official SFFD account wrote on X earlier today, noting the one-alarm fire resulted in no injuries. “Crews are making it a priority to ensure that no fire extends to this location. There is no fire and no damage to the Castro theater at this time.”
As of publishing, the fire is contained and an investigation is underway to pinpoint its cause; local authorities have not said to avoid the area.
