Explosion at Mission District Shell station rattles homes, no injuries reported

An explosion and fire at a Shell gas station in San Francisco’s Mission District on Monday afternoon shook nearby buildings, sent a plume of black smoke over the neighborhood, and prompted an extensive response from city firefighters, but caused no reported injuries.

The incident occurred at the Shell station at 16th and Guerrero streets, where construction work had been underway. Several dozen firefighters responded with at least nine department vehicles, including six fire trucks, according to San Francisco Fire Chief Dean Crispen.

Crispen said an adjacent building was evacuated as a precaution. He stated that there were no reports of injuries linked to the blast and fire.

The fire chief said early indications pointed to construction activity at the site. According to Crispen, an excavator at the gas station may have scraped a gas tank, which could have caused fuel to leak and ignite. That potential contact with the tank is being examined as a possible source of the fire.

Nearby residents and workers described a sudden, powerful explosion that many initially mistook for an earthquake or a shooting.

Emma Silvers, a journalist with Coyote Media who lives on 16th Street near the gas station, said she heard the explosion shortly after 4:30 p.m. Silvers said she was sitting in her kitchen when she heard what she described as a very large sound and immediately wondered if it had been an earthquake. She checked online to see if anyone was talking about seismic activity and found nothing. Soon after, she heard a helicopter overhead, went to her front window, and saw what she described as a massive fire at the Shell station at 400 Guerrero Street.

Silvers said firefighters quickly brought the blaze under control and that the fire was out by 5 p.m. She reported that the bottom half of the excavator was singed black. According to Silvers, the station had been fenced off and under construction for about a week, and workers had been active there over the previous day or so.

Across the street, at Beyond The Pale barbershop, barber Nik Valbuena said she was cutting a customer’s hair when the shop windows started to shake. Like Silvers, Valbuena’s first thought was that it might be an earthquake, until she saw a cloud of smoke rising from the gas station.

Ed Joe, who lives on 16th Street, said the explosion shook his entire building. He recalled people in the building shouting that an explosion had just happened and said that the event also felt to him like an earthquake. Joe said he saw the person operating the excavator attempting to contain the flames by throwing dirt onto the fire before firefighters arrived.

At Angie’s Pizza nearby, manager Bean Bull said staff initially feared the noise might be gunfire. She said they were setting up the restaurant when they heard a boom, and then saw a man pick up his daughter and run. One staff member locked the restaurant door, thinking there might be an active shooter, before they saw the smoke and realized there had been an explosion at the gas station instead.

Photos from the scene showed thick black smoke rising above nearby buildings and drifting across the neighborhood. Images taken after the fire was extinguished showed fire trucks and hoses stretched across the street at dusk, with the gas station surrounded by emergency vehicles and firefighters.

Crispen said firefighters would remain at the scene to ensure no further incidents occurred. A hazardous materials team was on site monitoring air quality in the area, according to his account. Yellow tape was placed across the entrance of an apartment building behind the gas station, signaling that authorities were restricting access as they secured the scene.

Silvers, who watched from her home, said her main concern was the person who had been operating the excavator when the fire broke out. As of the information provided, it was not clear whether that worker or any other individuals directly involved in the construction had been evaluated by medical personnel on site, though officials continued to report no injuries.

Residents also shared images and footage of the fire on social media. One poster on Reddit said they had been eating across the street from the gas station when it exploded and shared video of the flames and smoke.

The gas station, a busy corner site on the edge of the Mission and Castro districts, had been fenced off for construction work for several days. The specific nature of the project at the station was not detailed in the available accounts, and authorities had not released an official cause of the explosion as of the latest information.

Chief Crispen’s preliminary explanation focused on the excavator’s possible contact with a gas tank and leaked fuel as a likely source of ignition, but officials did not describe that as a final determination. No additional details about the structural condition of the station, the status of surrounding utilities, or the timeline for reopening nearby properties were given in the information provided.

In the hours after the incident, emergency crews remained on scene to watch for flare ups, assess air quality, and manage access to nearby residences. The fire’s visible impact included damage to the excavator and at least some damage within the gas station area, as described by residents. The full extent of damage to equipment or underground tanks was not specified.

Authorities had not announced any broader public safety advisories beyond the immediate evacuation of the adjacent building. There was no information yet on whether nearby residents would face longer term restrictions or if any formal investigation results would be released to the public.

For Mission District residents and commuters who rely on 16th and Guerrero as a key corridor, the explosion briefly turned a familiar corner gas station into a hazardous site that shook homes and businesses. By early evening, the fire was out and the worst case scenarios that often accompany gas station fires, including mass injuries or uncontrolled spread, had not materialized, according to the accounts provided. Officials were still working to confirm exactly what went wrong and how to prevent a similar incident in the future.