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Popular Jewish Deli In San Francisco Struggles After Mission Fire; Gets Help From Food Community

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) -- The four-alarm fire that devastated a three-story building in San Francisco's Mission District has had a big impact on dozens of small businesses. Among those hit hard, is one of city's best known delis.

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The Wise Sons Deli is still offering Jewish comfort food at its 24th Street location just a few blocks from the where the fire happened but the blaze caused major damage to the deli's main kitchen on the first floor of the burned out building at 22nd and Mission streets.

RELATED: Investigators Look Into Reports Of Faulty Fire Alarms, Escape Ladders In Deadly SF Mission District Fire

"Collapsed ceilings, flooding," deli co-founder Evan Bloom said. "We've got our production there--our meat, our fish--so you can imagine the refrigerator was full of a lot of very expensive proteins which was a bummer."

But Bloom said he and his partner, Leo Beckerman, are grateful that none of their employees were hurt.

kitchen
The kitchen for the Wise Sons Deli, located at 22nd and Mission Streets, was destroyed in the 4-alarm fire on Jan. 28, 2015. (@wisesons Instagram)

Now they have been scrambling to figure out where to bake their bread and smoke their pastrami but that the foodie community has really stepped up to help.

"There's been an outpouring of support from people in the industry an just finding a space where we can at least temporarily keep making our product, keep our employees working and just going about our business because we can't let this stop us," Bloom said.

City officials said the fire impacted more than 30 small businesses. One man died and five other people were injured. Fifty-four people who lived in the apartments inside the building have been displaced.

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