8 injured, 2 missing, 55 displaced after massive fire destroys San Rafael apartment building

SAN RAFAEL, Calif. (KGO) -- In the North Bay, more than 50 people are displaced following a massive fire at a San Rafael apartment complex. It happened early Thursday morning in the city's Canal District, authorities say two people are unaccounted for from the fire.

William Rodas shot video with his cellphone the moment he saw flames coming from the apartment building next door at 516 Canal Street in San Rafael.

"I hear a lot of noise people screaming, 'help! help!' Everybody coming out, we see the building was burning," Rodas said.

By 5:30 a.m., the 19-unit waterfront apartment house was fully engulfed, Building manager Martin Hanson, woke to the sound of people running down the stairs.

"I thought it was a fight going on, I looked out and saw flames. Through on my shirt and shorts grabbed cash and headed out I was on the water side, so a lot of people had to jump into the water."

The San Rafael Fire Department says eight people were injured trying to escape the fire.

"They jumped and probably landed on the ground behind the building and were rescued and brought to the front of the building and treated and transported as needed," said Deputy Chief Robert Sinnott from San Rafael Fire Department.

SKY7 showed how intense the fire was at the three-story wood frame building, gutting most of the structure. Fifty-five tenants are now displaced with two residents still unaccounted for.

"Currently we have two people missing, we're making every effort to locate them," said Sergeant Justin Graham from San Rafael police.

Graham is asking the two residents to check in with authorities, in case they were not home this morning.

"It took at least an hour to get the fire under control," said Sinnott.

Fire officials say the building was inspected in July of 2025 and passed inspection.

Neighboring apartment buildings were evacuated, luckily the fire did not spread. William is feeling lucky.

"It was really, really hot, super hot, thank god my family is safe," said Rodas.

A cause of the fire has not been determined.