Instead of holding up his phone to capture dramatic images of a fire on Mission Street in San Francisco, which displaced 54 people in apartments above small businesses, 26-year-old Zack Crockett found a way to help the distraught fire victims.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports:

First he typed up a rant on Facebook about the crowd gathered at the fire "not to console, but to whip out their cellphones and document the suffering." Then, he created a GoFundMe page with a goal of raising $2,000 for victims.

A local newspaper featured the fundraising page as the go-to relief vehicle to help victims and as of today, Crockett has raised more than $156,000 $160,000 from more than 1,900 people and businesses.

"Every dollar collected is to be distributed among the victims, with help from a nonprofit community-based organization that Crockett contacted."

(READ more from San Francisco Chronicle)

File photo by Steve Rhodes (CC license) / Story tip from Mike McGinley