A three-alarm fire destroyed the 1892 Central Seventh Day Adventist Church at 2889 California Street after construction workers resealing sandstone around windows accidentally sparked the blaze.

The fire that gutted the Central Seventh Day Adventist Church at 2889 California Street on June 29 began with construction work on the building's exterior, according to San Francisco Fire Department investigators.

Workers were resealing porous sandstone around the church's windows when the blaze ignited between 1:30 p.m. and 2:00 p.m., Senior Pastor Mark Ferrell told reporters. The construction crew called the fire department, which dispatched more than 100 firefighters to the 1892 building in Lower Pacific Heights.

"The construction workers were the cause of the initial fire and it spread through the building," Lt. Mariano Elias with the SFFD said in a statement. Fire investigators continue to sift through rubble but have confirmed construction activity as the origin.

The fire proved particularly destructive due to the building's age and construction. "When the roof burned it fell down into the main worship area, which is up in the mezzanine level, and so the inside has a lot of waterlogged pews, a whole bunch of burned timbers," Ferrell said. The roof collapse rendered the building uninhabitable.

Five people were displaced from an adjacent building, though no injuries were reported at the church itself. Firefighters used drone technology with thermal imaging to direct crews, facing challenges from the building's age, open space, and wind.

The church had been performing exterior maintenance for several years, including sandstone resurfacing and window sealing to prevent water intrusion. Monday's work was part of ongoing upgrades, though a search of San Francisco's building permit database found no permits filed for 2889 California Street in 2025 or 2026 for this type of work.

The congregation will continue holding services online and temporarily join the San Francisco Philadelphian Church two blocks away for Sabbath services. "I know that this church is going to come back from the ashes, I know that this church is going to come back stronger," said Ricardo Viloria, president of the Central California Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.

The official Fire Investigation Report has not been released, and no timeline for its publication has been announced. The SFFD Fire Investigation Task Force is handling the investigation, which is standard procedure for fires of this magnitude.