Subject: Fires

• LastNight: Flamethrowers Dance Dance Revolution = DDI

  June 4, 2007

• Two Killed In Russian Hill Star of India Fire

  November 29, 2007

• Molotov Cocktail Found in Bernal Heights

  January 25, 2008

• Dude Who Torched Burning Man Effigy Pleads No Contest to Firework Possesion

  March 18, 2008

• The Curious Case of SF Neighborhood Names

  April 30, 2008

• Shattered Glass and Bayview Muni Madness

  May 15, 2008

• Electrical Fire Closes Fillmore, Cancels Dethklok Show

  June 6, 2008

• Hot Shit: Serial Porta-John Arsonist Torches Another S.F. Commode, Well on Way to Becoming Dillinger of Outhouse-Related Crime

  By Joe EskenaziFirst there were the Zebra Murders. Then Zodiac. And now -- the serial porta-john arsonist. As the 13th smoldering outhouse since November was doused early this morning, the realization was unavoidable: The city is, once again, host to a disturbed individual terrorizing our denizens with bursts of random crime ... except now he (or she) is not killing people but immolating outhouses on Russian Hill. Certainly our city government will tell us that this is progress. Is this toilet-t

  January 6, 2009

• Chronicle Pulls a Geraldo, Gives Up Location of 'Camouflaged' Outhouse

  With porta-johns in Russian Hill getting the same treatment these days as prostitutes in Victorian London, the Chronicle yesterday ran a quasi-feel good story about a builder who camouflaged his outhouse to fend off the outhouse arsonist(s) who has torched 14 johns since November. One problem, though: Much as Geraldo Rivera revealed American troop positions with his sand-sketches during the most recent Iraq war, the Chron gives away plenty of details that could result in Dana Hayden's secret out

  January 12, 2009

• Just When You Thought It Was Safe to Go Back in the Outhouse: Arsonist Immolates No. 21

  The ongoing string of outhouse fires garnering San Francisco worldwide coverage continued early yesterday morning, according to the San Francisco Police Department. At 3:50 on Sunday morning, a portable lavatory was set ablaze on the 2000 block of Broadway. The SFPD tallies this as outhouse No. 21 to go up in flames since November.So, now that the arsonist (or arsonists) has hit blackjack, you think this'll stop?

  February 2, 2009

• Dumping Improper Crap in an Outhouse Is a Federal Offense. Burning 21 of Them Is Not

  Certainly it's caught your eye -- the ubiquitous notice in most outhouses that "dumping hazardous materials" down the loo is a federal offense. When juxtaposed with the interior of a porta-john, the verb "dumping" and the notion of "hazardous materials" have definitely inspired their share of laughs. But, now that San Francisco has experienced its 21st outhouse immolation, it warrants mentioning: Dumping crap into an outhouse is a federal offense. Torching one isn't. The logical first question t

  February 3, 2009

• Noise Pop "Dodges a Bullet" When Early-Morning Fire Breaks Out at Their Offices

  Peter SamuelsNoise Pop staffers inspect the damage following an early-morning fire.Just two weeks before the opening of their 2009 festival, Noise Pop narrowly averted a major catastrophe when a fire broke out at their offices, located at 2180 Bryant Street. According to Noise Pop's Bill Rousseau, the fire began just before 5 a.m. Tuesday morning, most likely caused by antiquated wiring dating back to the 1940s and a blown fuse box. The building's property manager, who had stopped by to do some

  February 10, 2009

• As Second Potrero Hill Outhouse Smolders, Police Insist This Is Not Funny

  An erudite citizen on the 400 block of Kansas Street called 911 at 10 minutes to midnight on Tuesday reporting "the glow of a fire." It turns out it was the immolation of outhouse No. 24. After preying on porta-johns in the Russian Hill and Nob Hill areas for months, the outhouse arsonist -- or arsonists -- had just burned their second toilet on Potrero Hill's Kansas Street in 72 hours. News of the 23rd outhouse to go up in flames hit the Internets with a bang this weekend. In fact, this local c

  February 18, 2009

• San Francisco's Explosion of the Weekend Wasn't Made-For-TV Blast -- It Was This Brazen Tenderloin Arson

  This weekend, all the cameras -- professional, amateur, and NBC -- were pointed at the I-280 onramp, where a big rig was rigged to burst into flames for the S.F.-centric TV drama Trauma.The results were impressive. But they cannot touch, with an exploding, 10-foot pole, the bizarre arson and vehicular immolation reported this morning in the Tenderloin. Per the San Francisco Police Department: 00:36 -- ARSON: 100 block of 6th street. Victim is seated in a parked vehicle when victim sees suspect (

  March 30, 2009

• Making a Buck off San Francisco's Misery or an Honest Corporation Concerned About Our Welfare? Either Way, Flaming Outhouses Make For Great Publicity.

  Somewhere, in his personal Fortress of Ultimate Darkness, the Outhouse Arsonist has to be burning up. His -- and we're assuming this one is a man, sorry -- little crusade to protest rampant construction in well-heeled Russian Hill/protest consumerism/kick sand in the face of capitalist society/burn things has become the backbone of a rather crass marketing campaign by a large chemical company. Clorox, as noted earlier on this page, has loudly and publicly jumped into the fray, sponsoring a $5,00

  March 31, 2009

• San Francisco Arson Case Involving Man With 'Box on Fire' Who Torched Car Grows Weirder and Weirder

  Marvel ComicsAn artist's rendition of San Francico's bizarre vehicular arson case. That artist is, of course, Jack Kirby. How does a reported Monday-morning arson case in which a mysterious man toting a "box on fire" immolating an occupied car get any stranger? How about if the person who fled the burning vehicle for his life morphs into a pair of women and the whole thing becomes an accident? That sounds weirder -- and that's the official line now coming out of the San Francisco Police Departme

  April 1, 2009

• Chatterbox

  April 24, 1996

• No Toilet Paper, No Peace

  The Porta Potti Arsonist speaks.

  January 21, 2009

• "Mugshots"

  November 7, 2007

• Best Nouveau Rabble-Rousing

  May 17, 2000

• Best Guilty Indulgence

  May 17, 2000

• Best Place to Pick Up a Break Dancer

  May 17, 2000

• Side Dish

  Dud, Sunburn, Bar Hopping II, Hot Diggity

  January 12, 2000

• Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire! (Yawn.)

  December 8, 1999

• Motorcycles, Trucks, and Garbage Cans, Oh My! San Francisco Suffers Spate of Park District Arsons

  San Francisco's outhouse arsonist -- a person or persons who noxiously immolated more than two dozen local porta-johns -- managed to garner international attention to our city, as well as corporate-sponsored fecal humor/crime patrols. Yet the city could well have a less cuddly arsonist on its hands after Sunday and Monday witnessed four blazes within a urinal cake's toss of one another. The quarry this time: Trash cans, motorbikes, and a truck. A trio of arsons were reported within a 15-minute s

  May 11, 2009

• Warrants Indicate Hundreds of Pot Plants Seized From Property Adjoining Bayview Warehouse That Suspiciously Burned Last Month

  Persons of interest...Search warrants indicate that police confiscated 860 marijuana plants growing in a structure a stone's throw from a Bayview warehouse that burst into flames last month -- a strong indication that initial theories blaming careless pot-growers for the blaze may well be accurate. A firefighter was injured in the fire last month at a warehouse located at 2265 Revere; an illegal converter box clued police in that a marijuana growing operation might be tied to the blaze (known as

  June 12, 2009

• But Bastille Day Was Weeks Ago -- Trio of S.F. Parked Vehicles Set Ablaze Over Weekend

  www.lcpstc.orgVive le San Francisco!​With the new in thing to do in San Francisco being to charge our most "urban" politicians with being suburban, the city enjoyed a touch of the Parisian suburbs over the weekend with a trio of torched vehicles. At 3 a.m. on Saturday, a parked car was set ablaze on the 200 block of California. At 4 a.m. on Sunday, another vehicle went up in flames at Olive and Van Ness. And then at 2:30 a.m. on Monday, yet another parked vehicle was burned on the 100 block of

  July 27, 2009

• Just How Many Cars Have Been Torched In the City? Depends On Whom You Ask.

  www.lcpstc.org​Yesterday we were apparently the first to notice that the term "Arson" coupled with "vehicle" wasn't an inadvertent repetition on the weekend police report, and wrote a small item about a trio of cars going up in flames. Several hours later, the police told us that, in fact, a quintet of cars had been immolated over the weekend -- which raises things from "Hmmmm" to "God damn!" on the news trend scale. Reports that three more cars were torched overnight puts things into "Holy cr

  July 28, 2009

• Growing pot in S.F. poses more than just legal risks

  July 29, 2009

• Counting the Charred Cars Is Easy -- There are Nine of Them. Unless You Count the One in McLaren Park...

  'My car!'​As San Francisco's cars begin to go up in flames as if members of the Critical Mass crowd gleaned the ability to channel the Drew Barrymore character in Firestarter, we noted yesterday that counting the number of torched cars hadn't turned out to be so easy a task. The San Francisco Police Department gave us one number, the Chronicle and Examiner reported another -- and not every burned car seemed to go onto the seemingly intuitive list of "burned cars." We talked with the SFPD y

  July 29, 2009

• Veiled Accusations Leveled at Arson Suspect Prompt Question: How Fast Can 61-Year-Old Homeless Woman Get Around Town?

  www.lcpstc.orgWhodunnit?​The San Francisco Police are quick to note that 61-year-old homeless woman and convicted arsonist Fafa Chan is not a suspect in the series of car fires that plagued the city last month. But SFPD spokeswoman Lyn Tomioka was quick to note to SF Weekly that once Chan was arrested on July 30, the fires mysteriously ceased. It's a point the Chronicle noted yesterday -- as is the notion that this is just about the only "evidence" the cops have against Chan in the car fires.

  August 20, 2009

• One Day After Media Reports Car Arsons Have Abated Since Arrest of Homeless Woman ... They're Back Again!

  ​On the heels of both the Chronicle and KRON-TV noting that the July string of 13 car arsons abruptly ceased with the arrest of a homeless woman in her 60s named Fafa Chan -- that's no longer the case. Firefighters doused a flaming Honda not long after 3 a.m. this morning at 21st and Balboa, not far from most of the other cars immolated during last month's spree. The big question is -- was the "real" arsonist waiting for a chance to tweak the authorities? Or was the much repeated media stateme

  August 20, 2009

• Fire Closes Tadich Grill

  J. BirdsallBy noon, fire crews had taped off the entrance.​A grease fire broke out in the kitchen at hallowed Financial District restaurant Tadich Grill (240 California at Front) late this morning. By noon, fire crews were on the scene and the blaze was deemed under control, but the restaurant was closed. No word on when it will reopen. Nextdoor neighbor Perbacco was still open for business and apparently unaffected.

  August 24, 2009

• Apparent Piss-Poor Attempt at Car Arson in Seacliff

  www.lcpstc.org​Police responded to a report of a burning car on 29th and Lake at 1:25 this morning, only to discover "smoldering newspaper on the hood" of the vehicle. There was no damage to the car and no arrest made -- so it appears that someone has achieved the unremarkable task of burning some newspaper. Still, this apparently abortive attempt at car arson took place not far from the Geary corridor, where many of July's charred vehicles were located. "It didn't seem to be a serious arson a

  August 27, 2009

• Police: Weekend's Flaming Car Had Nothing to Do With Other Flaming Cars

  www.lcpstc.orgWait! This time there was a logical reason for a car to be found on fire.​San Francisco cops arriving at the scene of a blazing automobile must now ask themselves a modified version of the most famous of Passover queries: "How is this burning vehicle different from all other burning vehicles?" Over the weekend, police discovered an incinerated car on the 800 block of Grove Street in the wee hours of the morning. When we called to query if this was related to last month's spree of

  August 31, 2009

• Under Fire

  November 4, 2009

• Cops: S.F., East Bay Car Fires are Not Connected -- and 62-Year-Old Homeless Woman Is *Still* Prime Suspect in City Blazes

  www.lcpstc.org​Other than disturbingly large swaths of the population of France, not so many people get a kick out of immolating cars. So when automobiles started going up like foreclosed factories in the East Bay, a natural thought was, "I wonder if this has something to do with all those car fires we had here in San Francisco?" San Francisco police had that notion, too -- but Inspector Jeffrey Levin said he's been in close contact with the lead investigator at the Richmond Police Department,

  November 11, 2009

• Accused Arsonist's Lawyer Peeved at Cops Repeatedly Tying His Client to S.F. Car Fires

  ​Yesterday we reported that San Francisco Police arson Inspector Jeffrey Levin still considers 62-year-old homeless woman Fafa Chan to be the prime suspect in this summer's string of car fires. "I'm convinced that she did [it]," he told SF Weekly. In the meantime, as we've pointed out before, pinning every last fire on Chan would require the homeless woman to light a car ablaze and then ride the 38 Geary nearly five miles down the road and light two more cars on fire 15 minutes later -- at a t

  November 12, 2009

• Has Outhouse Arsonist Returned? Another S.F. John Goes Up in Flames.

  ​In the most unwelcome comeback since, say, Bon Jovi, the person or persons lighting porta-johns ablaze may have made a return. More than two dozen porta-johns were burned into malodorous puddles of plastic in a crime wave that garnered national -- and even international -- coverage in 2008 and early '09. A toilet cleaning product company even tried to cash in on the crimewave. And now it may be starting again, with an outhouse going up at 1818 Broadway at just before 1 a.m. this morning. The

  November 13, 2009

• Two More S.F. Cars Burned; Third In Two Days

  www.lcpstc.org​San Francisco Police spokesman Sergeant Wilfred Williams has told SF Weekly that details are sketchy regarding the pair of vehicles charred at Sixth and Jessie at around 5:15 this morning. It is unclear at this time if this fire is related to any other car-immolating sprees around the city and Bay Area -- so many to choose from -- or if this is the start of a new one. More than 20 cars have been burned this month in the East Bay, and, closer to home, more than a dozen were lit a

  November 19, 2009

• Early Morning SoMa Arsonist Targeted Only One Car, Another Just Unlucky

  ​ ​After two cars went up in flames at 5:15 this morning on the 500 block of Jesse Street in SoMa, it seemed that the arsonist might have aimed for double the fun. Not so, says SFPD spokesman Samson Chan."The vehicle next to the black Nissan pickup didn't appear to be a target," Chan said. He didn't know exactly what kind of vehicle it was -- only that the flames from the pickup crept over and did damage.

  November 19, 2009