Flames lit up the early morning sky on Castro Street, as two apartment buildings were fully were engulfed.
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"An upstairs neighbor was shouting 'get up, the house is on fire,'" said displaced tenant Troy Boyd.
Boyd and his neighbors grabbed what they could and got out.
"I got my ID, phone, shoes, social security card, it was 4 am, I could barely get my thoughts together," Boyd said.
"The smoke was coming up, I was breathing it. I didn't cover my face," said tenant Andy Gutierrez.
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Fire department officials say a tenant was stuck on the second floor but escaped through a back window.
Investigators say the fire likely started in the back of Q-bar, and then spread to the sushi restaurant next door.
"We went from having a fire in the back to having both attics fully envolved, fire wanting to push out to this building and this building," said SFFD Assistant Chief Brook Baker.
Two firefighters suffered minor injuries. The cause of the fire is still unknown.
Both buildings were yellow tagged by the city. It's unknown when displaced residents can return home. The Red Cross is assisting them.