Fires

LastNight: Flamethrowers Dance Dance Revolution = DDI

Two Killed In Russian Hill Star of India Fire

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 t ... More >>

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, t ... More >>

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 arso ... More >>

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 ... More >>

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 b ... More >>

No Toilet Paper, No Peace

The Porta Potti Arsonist speaks.

Best Guilty Indulgence

Parking on the Sidewalk

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

Lame city regulation leaves burned-out residents of nine SRO hotels completely SOL

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 ... More >>

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. ... More >>

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 quint ... More >>

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

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 quint ... More >>

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 ... More >>

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 f ... More >>

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 ... More >>

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 ... More >>

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 ... More >>

Under Fire

Mike Estrada was supposed to be ordered away from a burning building by his superior. It was just one of many mistakes that put him in harm's way.

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 fir ... More >>

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, pinn ... More >>

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 ea ... More >>

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 t ... More >>

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. ... More >>

Is Potty Arsonist Back?

​Last year, 27 portable toilets went up in flames in San Francisco, and nobody knows why. In the absence of any explanation, we made some shit up. But the terrifying reality is that some nefarious toilet igniter is still out there, perhaps targeting his or her next defenseless shitter at ... More >>

The Crime That Just Keeps Giving -- Car Arsons Return to S.F.

www.lcpstc.org​The apparent "anything you can do I can do better" competition between unknown miscreants on both sides of the bay to see who can immolate more vehicles recorded a couple more San Francisco entries yesterday and early this morning. Sometime between midnight and noon on Sunday -- tha ... More >>

Snuffed Out

Massive layoffs, internal conflict, and decreasing morale have all contributed to a less effective arson unit.

Fatal Fire on Golden Gate Avenue

View Larger MapThe San Francisco Medical Examiner's office has identified the victim of a fatal fire last night on Golden Gate Avenue, but is not releasing the man's name until notification of his family. The fire occurred at about 11 p.m. at 1900 block of Golden Gate Avenue and claimed the single m ... More >>

Woman Arrested For Gruesome Combo of Arson and Animal Cruelty

​Some combos go together naturally and joyously: Chocolate and peanut butter, Astaire and Rogers, supposedly altruistic offers of back rubs and segues into romance. Arrests for arson and animal cruelty are not on this list -- but they are on the San Francisco Police Department's.

Cars Burn at San Francisco Airport -- Arson a Possibility

www.lcpstc.org​Many a traveler has lost his or her luggage. But to lose your car -- that's different. It's also the reality facing half a dozen travelers at San Francisco International Airport, where a suspicious fire gutted six cars overnight in the long-term parking lot. A Toyota Siena ignited i ... More >>

Woman Boots Man From Her Home. He's Accused of Torching It.

...And stay out! ​An uncomfortable San Francisco living situation has sparked a possible felony crime. A 43-year-old woman living in the 1100 block of Turk Street yesterday reported to police that she yesterday gave the heave-ho to a 50-year-old man who'd been living with her for the past six mont ... More >>

Sacramento Metalheads Tesla's Studio Burns in Three-Alarm Blaze

Ross HalfinTesla​Flames tore through a Sacramento apartment building last night, damaging a studio where the metal band Tesla recorded.Soundproofing in the recording studio, which was behind the apartment building, made it harder for crews to reach the attic, where the the three-alarm blaze had sp ... More >>

Michael Warner Charged With Torching Eight Outhouses

​Michael Warner, a 27-year-old Caucasian with no fixed address, has been charged with burning eight outhouses and three hand-washing stations. Warner's alleged Saturday arson spree took place in the 400 block of Mission Bay Boulevard at around 7 p.m.; a witness saw him hop a fence and later identi ... More >>

Monica Christine McCarrick Killed Children With Samurai Sword, Cops Say

Fairfield PoliceMonica Christine McCarrick ​Just when you think allegations a young mother killed her three-year-old twin daughters and then set the building on fire couldn't get worse -- it did. Christine McGarrick, 28, of Fairfield is now suspected of slaying Lily and Tori Ball with a samurai sw ... More >>

Paul Williams Booked For Arson Following Yesterday's Tenderloin Blaze

TenderblogPaul Williams is accused of being a very bad neighbor​Paul Williams, a 64-year-old resident at 550 Leavenworth, has been arrested and charged with igniting a fire that gutted the apartment building. The Sunday morning two-alarm fire damaged nine units of the apartment building and displa ... More >>

'Massive' Four-Alarm Blaze 'Destroys' Nob Hill Building

Tenderblog824 Hyde in flames​A four-alarm blaze gutted a 95-year old apartment building on Hyde Street in the Tenderknob/Lower Nob Hill area this morning. Firefighters responded to a fire at 824 Hyde Street at 5:20 a.m., but could not halt the conflagration from "enveloping" the entire building, T ... More >>

Castro on Fire Again; Police Look for Serial Arsonist

More flames in the Castro​Arson investigators are at the scene of another suspicious fire  that was set early this morning in the Castro neighborhood -- the fourth in the last 24 hours. On Friday morning, a fire was set outside a home on Collingwood and 18th Streets, according to media report ... More >>

Fire Burns Two Homes Near Castro

Spreading flames​Another blaze burned two homes in San Francisco early this morning, just a few blocks from the Castro neighborhood where last week there were four different fires in less than 48 hours.At 3 a.m, firefighters were called to a fire at 1370 Clayton St. in the Upper Market neighborhoo ... More >>

Castro Arson Victims Homeless, Need Money

Donate and drink!​Earlier this week, Supervisor Scott Wiener introduced a bill that would help victims of major disasters find cheap affordable housing and fast. But that won't do anything now for the 10 people who were booted from their homes after a series of suspected arson fires burned their C ... More >>

S.F. Police Investigate More Possible Arsons

Flag on fire​Police are investigating two more suspicious fires that started over the weekend in the Balboa Park neighborhood, just a few doors apart. On Saturday at about 5:30 am., firefighters responded to a fire that had started outside a dwelling on the unit block of San Juan Avenue. Fire offi ... More >>

Mission Fire Leaves Lotus Garden Shuttered; Blue Plate, Los Panchos Open as Usual

SfistWednesday night's fire at 3212 Mission (at 29th St.) left extensive damage at Lotus Garden.​When the three-alarm fire broke out two doors away last night at 3212 Mission, the Blue Plate restaurant was just filling up it's 70-seat capacity, says Sean Thomas, the chef de cuisine who was on ... More >>

Fire Rages in SOMA

Much of Mission Bay and SOMA smells like a tinderbox at the moment as a three-alarm fire burns at Russ and Folsom. SF Weekly has dispatched web editor Jake Swearingen to the scene. Our calls to San Francisco Fire Department spokeswoman Mindy Talmadge have not yet been returned. More when we know mor ... More >>

Joseph Erich Pearson, S.F. Dispensary Owner, Arrested After Blaze Burns Marijuana Grow in Rural Sonoma

Marijuna blaze​The co-founder of San Francisco's slickest medical cannabis dispensary and a member of the San Francisco Medical Cannabis Task Force has been charged with multiple felonies stemming from a Sonoma County marijuana grow, according to news reports.Joseph Erich Pearson, 34, co-founder o ... More >>

Anthony Valerio, S.F. Firefighter Burned in Blaze, Struggles to Survive

Tony Valerio​Family members and friends of Anthony Valerio are standing by his hospital bedside, praying that the 53-year-old firefighter who was badly burned in a home blaze yesterday morning, will pull through. Fire officials told SF Weekly that Valerio remains in critical condition, and they ar ... More >>

Vincent Perez, Anthony Valerio, S.F. Firefighters Killed in Blaze, to be Honored Friday at Funeral

Tony Valerio​San Francisco Fire Department will gather on Friday to honor two of their own who were killed while battling a blaze at a Diamond Heights home last week. Lieutenant Vincent Perez, 48, died Thursday after the fire and Anthony "Tony" Valerio, 53, was pronounced dead on Saturday morning. ... More >>

Burned Body Found Near Buena Vista Park

Jebb/FlickrBurned body found in park​Where there's smoke, there's fire, and in this case -- also a body. Firefighters responded to small brush fire near Buena Vista Park at 4:39 a.m., and in the process of extinguishing flames, came across a partially burned body. Police have determined the p ... More >>

Blaze that Killed Vincent Perez and Anthony Valerio, S.F. Firefighters, Was an Accident

It was a sad accident ​Fire officials have determined that the blaze which killed Vicent Perez and Anthony Valerio was an electrical accident. The Fire Department is still conducting test of the house's electrical system to pinpoint the exact cause of the massive fire that scorched a Diamond Heigh ... More >>

Fire Blazes in Western Addition: 3 Firefighters Injured, Buildings Partially Collapse

ABC 7 News ​(Update 4:20 p.m.) Media outlets are reporting that the fire is finally under control. Also, scratch the information below about heading to the Red Cross in the Western Addition later tonight to help victims. If you want to help, just go to the downtown San Francisco Red Cross at ... More >>

SOMA Fire Smokes Green Cross Medical Marijuana Delivery Service HQ

The "Burn One Down" jokes are not funny​The SOMA building that caught fire late Tuesday also houses the city's only licensed medical marijuana delivery service, which has, fortunately, been able to continue operations.Firefighters responded to a two-alarm blaze at a four-story building on 11th Str ... More >>