Party Jams Streets of San Francisco : Fans Celebrate 49ers’ Third Super Bowl Victory of 1980s

Horns blared, roman candles lit the sky and strangers kissed in the streets Sunday night as fans celebrating the San Francisco 49ers Super Bowl victory turned the town into an impromptu open-air party.

Fireworks left over from July 4th rocketed aloft as fans in the largely Latino Mission District poured into the streets to celebrate the 20-16 last-minute victory over the Cincinnati Bengals in Miami.

“We stomped them like bugs in a barn,” said a celebrating William Bernhard, 21, from his post on a jammed Mission Street corner. “For the last 5 minutes, it was like having an electric eel attached to your spine.”

The California Highway Patrol closed Highway 480 near the Embarcadero because of crowds in the area, and several city streets were closed due to the reveling fans. There were reports of numerous arrests, most for being drunk in public, but police could not provide a number.

“Give us time because they’re coming and going at a high rate of speed,” said Officer Elizabeth Loew, who said the arrests began right after the end of the game. “Like I said, we’re swamped.”

One man stood on Mission Street, holding a stuffed Bengal tiger with a rope around its neck, occasionally tossing it under the wheels of passing cars.

“It was great. I’m elated. I’m excited. When Joe Montana threw that (last-minute touchdown) pass, we jumped and we said, ‘Whooooh.’ Joe Montana, he’s the guy, he’s the man, he’s the clutch, the man who knows how to perform under pressure,” said Orlando Arana, who toted 3-year-old Orlando Jr. on his shoulders.

“I feel great,” said Manuel Anaya, 20, of San Francisco as he jumped up and down on a crowded sidewalk, waving a 6-foot 49ers banner. “I knew it all the way. I never gave up, I never gave up.”

A man leaned from an apartment window overlooking stalled Mission Street, playing an unrecognizable tune on a trombone.

“We expect the unusual right now,” said Officer Stephanie Thorne at the Mission District police station. “Cars driving by with their boom boxes, honking their horns. They’re going pretty good out there.”

Additional officers were on duty for the evening, Thorne said, although she couldn’t say how many. And not all the fans were on the street, she admitted.

“Some of us were lucky enough to watch (the game), but when you’ve got to work, you’ve got to work,” she said.

At the jammed Mad Hatter sports bar on Geary Street, bellowing fans leaped into the air, slapping high fives and wagging fingers at the television screen.

At Perry’s, a Union Street bar, host Rob Hunter said the atmosphere has been “insane” all day.

“They’ve been going crazy,” Hunter said. “We knew we were going to win it.”

“You can’t walk on the street, you can’t get in the door. That’s what’s going on. We had fire trucks, horses and police blowing their sirens. It was great. Now they’re blocking off the street.”

At the New Orleans Room in the posh Fairmont Hotel on Nob Hill, manager Richard Wiewiorka said the crowd went wild when their team won.

“There was a cheer you wouldn’t believe,” he said, his own voice hoarse from rooting. “People were jumping out of their seats, hugging one another and screaming.

“They’ve all faded out, they went out into the streets to celebrate,” he said.

At John Barleycorn’s on Larkin Street, bar manager Danny Healy said he had to buy $100 worth of Coca-Cola to be sure he’d have enough 3-D glasses for customers to watch the halftime show. But he said ecstatic fans put them to use after the game, too.

“People started running around with their 3-D glasses on,” Healy said, shouting to make himself heard over the roar of the crowd. “They’re the team of the decade!”