Battery Sparks Room Fire at Seneca Hotel in Tenderloin; Resident Hospitalized

A lithium‑ion battery appeared to ignite a one-alarm structure fire that started in a fourth-floor room at the Seneca Hotel, 34 Sixth Street in San Francisco’s Tenderloin, leaving one resident injured and transported to a hospital. The San Francisco Fire Department posted an on-scene update at 9:16 p.m. showing engines and a ladder truck, and said the blaze was contained to the room of origin.

San Francisco Fire Department social media described the response in real time: "1 - ALARM FIRE, San Francisco Fire is on the scene of a 1-alarm structure fire in the 40 block of 6th Street. Initial reports are of a fire on the 4th floor, contained to the room of origin. At this time, 1 injury has been reported. Water on the fire. Please avoid the area of..." Firefighters were photographed with a ladder drawn as they worked to put water on the flames.

Fire officials, including the incident commander at the scene, said the fire "appeared to have been sparked by a lithium ion battery." Authorities have not specified the type of device or battery involved, and the finding has been described as preliminary by the incident commander while investigations continue.

The Seneca Hotel is operated by the Tenderloin Housing Clinic and functions as supportive single-room-occupancy housing, providing 195 units to formerly homeless adults. Emergency crews asked the public to avoid the intersection areas near 6th and Mission and 6th and Market while apparatus and personnel were working the scene, and several outlets reproduced SFFD’s request to keep the area clear for emergency vehicles.

All reports indicate one person was injured in the blaze and taken to a hospital; the person’s medical condition was not immediately known in the morning after the fire. Officials did not release the identity, age or other details about the injured resident, and no information about additional evacuations or property-loss estimates was provided in initial public statements.

San Francisco has been confronting a rise in lithium‑ion battery fires citywide: the Fire Department has previously said such fires tripled between 2013 and 2023, peaking at 58 recorded incidents in 2022, and have driven changes to local fire code for charging personal mobility devices. Those broader trends informed earlier policy adjustments, including a ban on charging devices with extension cords or power strips indoors that took effect two years ago.

The fire department’s investigation into the Seneca Hotel blaze remains active; officials have not yet released a final cause determination, damage estimate or details about whether adjacent units were affected. The Tenderloin Housing Clinic, as operator of the building, has not issued a public statement in the initial releases tied to the incident.