A woman is dead and three others are in critical condition following a fire early Wednesday morning at a freeway overpass structure and homeless encampment in San Francisco's Ingleside District.
The blaze sparked just after 1 a.m. at a structure underneath the Bosworth Street on ramp to I-280, several hundred yards away from the Glen Park BART station.
San Francisco Fire Department spokesperson Jonathan Baxter told KCBS Radio crews initially responded to a grass fire but could hear people screaming from inside an opening in the large concrete overpass structure that supports the ramp and could see the glow of fire inside.
Baxter added that the area is a homeless encampment and is not supposed to be used for living spaces.
Firefighters gained entry inside and extricated the victims by using a ladder which was extended from the ground into a hole crews established in the cement structure, Baxter said.
Four people were rescued and paramedics applied life saving measures. One of the victims, an adult woman, died while the three others were transported to a local hospital in critical condition.
The victims appear to be homeless, however fire department officials were not able to confirm that fact.
Once crews arrived, they were able to contain the blaze "relatively quickly" just before 3 a.m., Baxter explained.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
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