North Fair Oaks 8-alarm fire sets affordable housing development back

Supervisor Warren Slocum, who has led efforts for this development for over 10 years, said he is saddened to delay providing residences to those in need. The site was being developed by Mercy Housing and consisted of two buildings. 

“It saddens me deeply to realize that 10 years of effort have gone up in smoke,” Slocum said. “I feel very sad about it, thinking about all the families that would be moving in and what the future would hold for those families. It’s devastating.” 

The under-construction housing complex, located at 2700 Middlefield Road, caught fire Monday morning. Jon Johnston, fire marshal for the Menlo Park Fire Protection District, said the eight-alarm fire called for two additional strike teams from nearby counties. It was the largest response in recent county history.

“In 40 years, I’ve been to a lot of fires, given my previous profession, and I’ve never seen anything like this,” said County Executive Officer Mike Callagy, who was previously the deputy police chief for the city of San Mateo. “This was just absolutely completely devastating.”

Construction began on the $155 million development one year ago behind the county’s Fair Oaks Health Center. The apartments were to be reserved for households earning between 15% and 80% of the area median income. Twenty apartments will be set aside for homeless and receiving care management and supportive services from San Mateo County Health.

The development was supposed to be completed next year and provide child care along with other amenities for residents, Callagy said. 

Emphasizing the need for affordable housing in the area, Callagy said the county is “certainly committed” to working with Mercy and the developers to make a plan to rebuild and move forward. 

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, Johnston said. Since the origin is no longer there due to the devastation, the conclusion is based heavily on interviews and other relevant documentation collected. 

“There were over 100 people on the job site and around and trying to get all the photos and video footage is going to take quite a while,” he said. 

Once the investigation is done, Johnston said the fire district can turn the site back over to the construction company that will work with the county on safety requirements moving forward. 

As of Tuesday evening, 20 to 30 feet of debris remained on fire, he said.  

“We’re planning on being on-site until at least Friday,” Johnston said. “We have an active fire watch on it 24/7 until we can say it’s fully out.” 

The fire was contained after about five hours and evacuated nearby residents were allowed to return to their homes shortly after. 

“We’re just thankful no one was hurt, none of the workers or firefighters or local residents,” Callagy said. “I’m very proud of dispatch for handling a situation like that that they’ve never come across before. It really tested the system yesterday and the system was able to respond.”