Although when San Francisco's infamous Toilet Torcher made headlines by lighting up over 20 porta-potties in 2009, we haven't (ahem) caught wind of any cases of portable toilet arsons for a while. When last we heard, the Toilet Torcher (or probably just a copycat with a lighter) was setting sani-cans on fire in the Castro last year. Now, we have word that another possible toilet torcher struck last Saturday on the border of Noe Valley and La Lengua. more ›

An arsonist caused over $5,000 in damage to the Main Branch Library yesterday afternoon after setting fire to some informative pamphlets he found behind the reference desk in the Library for the Blind and Print Disabled — a subsection of the Main Branch building that is only accessible from an entrance on Larkin Street. The suspect took off after his kindling handouts started to burn, but the police department's Arson Task Force caught the suspect on surveillance footage and is still searching for a suspect as of Monday. more ›

A car in Merced Heights was set aflame by a well-tossed molotov cocktail last night. The flaming bottle was not, as one might expect, part of any sort of political protest. Instead, the incendiary device was was the work of a 40-something perpetrator who sped off in a waiting vehicle. more ›

Novato has been terrorized by 50 separate, small, suspected arson fires in the last three days, most of which have been in garbage cans or on small, four-square-foot patches of grass or brush. They've been concentrated in two distinct parts of the city, and the rapidity and proliferation of the incidents calls to mind the recent cat-and-mouse chase around Los Angeles for that suspected carsonist — albeit on a Marin-County scale with far less damage and far less actual drama. more ›

Harkening back to the days of the toilet torcher, two portable poopers were set on fire Sunday night in the city's Castro district. "One of the toilets was at 18th and Sanchez streets, the other at 18th and Douglass streets. In both cases, the back sides of the portable toilets melted," reports the Examiner. No one was injured. No arrests have been made. more ›

Late last night around 12:40 a.m. a 2-alarm fire was reported on Powell Street between Vallejo and Green in North Beach. SFFD responders had the fire under control by 12:55 a.m. according to a Bay City News report, but 25 residents of 1545 Powell Street were displaced by the damage, including three elderly residents who were taken to St. Francis Hospital to be treated for non-life threatening injuries. This morning, police and fire officials determined the blaze to be suspicious, but additional details on what caused it to break out were not immediately available. The Red Cross has been assisting with temporary housing for the displaced. [BCN/Appeal] more ›

You've been waiting a week for low-grade security footage from that spontaneous combustion in a SoMa porn store. And here it is. Enjoy it, in all its naked glory. (Sidenote: what is that soundtrack? Also, misshotz.com credit at the beginning is an evil splog. Don't bother visiting.) [Hat tip: Examiner] more ›

A man remains in the hospital with third-degree burns after somehow catching fire inside a SoMa porn booth. The fire occurred at an adult arcade at Sixth and Mission streets a little after 6 p.m. Police aren't sure exactly how the patron caught fire, but saw him run out of the Sixth and Mission store "engulfed in flames." more ›

Please, please, please join us at The Lookout on Tuesday, February 15, for a fundraiser to benefit the displaced residents of the Castro arson fires. As many of you know, four fires in the Castro sent waves of paranoia throughout the community. One fire in particular, at 16th and Market Streets, displaced 17 people. In an effort to help these now homeless residents, writer and SFGate personality Beth Spotswood and local politico Kate Ryken have planned a most delightful fund raising party in the heart of the Castro. more ›

Just a week after a homeless man was arrested for screaming that he was going to set the whole neighborhood ablaze, Castro residents are freaking over the fourth suspected arson in the area in less than two days. Early Thursday morning firefighters responded first to a trashcan fire around 4:25 a.m., and then minutes later to two major apartment building fires in Victorian buildings a few blocks away. One building, at 16th and Market, was home to 17 people, all of whom are currently displaced. The other building, at 17th and Hartford, was empty. As the Examiner reports, no one was injured in either blaze, except for a firefighter who twisted his ankle, and no one seems sure what became of the "deranged" homeless man who had been arrested a week earlier for his fire threats. Both buildings were heavily damaged. more ›

Sounds like a hectic morning for the Fire Department as three separate fires broke out in the Castro - all around 16th and Market and all within an hour of each other between about 4:30 and 5:30 a.m. The first, a trash can fire behind a "locked and gated area" at 2248 Market St was reported at 4:25 a.m. and handily dealt with by the SFFD before a second fire broke out about a block away on 16th Street around 5 a.m. more ›

Around 3:30 a.m. last night firefighters responded to reports of a burning car at Webster and Rose Streets (between Page and Haight). A two-door gray Pontiac was fully engulfed in flames, and after putting out the fire they discovered a body in the passenger's seat. KTVU is reporting that the body was female, though was very badly burned. more ›

Oh dear. A small grass fire broke out on Bernal Hill on Thursday night. According to SF Appeal, "The fire was reported at about 9:30 p.m. on Bernal Hill...It was quickly extinguished and caused little damage." The cause of the tiny blaze is under investigation. Speaking of fires, last week's spectacular car fire in the Mission appears to have been an accident, not the work of the infamous Carsonist. more ›

Since Friday, parts of Berkeley (especially areas near the UCB campus) have played host to a series of 12 small arson fires. According to the Daily Californian, "The fires have damaged three automobiles, melted the steering compartment of a motor scooter, destroyed one Port-a-Potty, burnt several trash cans and a wooden bench." On Monday night, the 10th fire happened on the 2300 block of Bowditch Street, where "residents of nearby house pulled a propane tank from the flames." more ›

God, do we miss buying and igniting fireworks. So much third-degree fun, so deeply missed. SF Weekly reminds us that, starting this month until July 4, police are busting folks for firework possession. (For those not in the know, the Mission District, Daly City and other rad neighborhoods glow with colored, flashing, whizzing, exploding fire on Independence Day.) So far, 277 pounds of explosives (including 150 M-80s!) were uncovered in Ingleside. On Monday, coppers found 11 boxes of illegal fireworks on the 5,000 block of Mission Street. And on and on. Stash your sparklers carefully, kids. [SF Weekly] more ›

Police arrested Willie Tucker, 56, yesterday for allegedly setting fire to an apartment building at 2949 18th St. at about 8 a.m. on Jan. 28. Tucker, a transient gentleman, it seems, set the fire "outside an apartment door of a female resident, who had reportedly befriended him months ago and given him food." What's more, the words "Welcome hell" and other illegible ramblings "were found scrawled on the door in permanent marker." Egads. Anyway, no one was injured. [via Appeal] more ›

Mean! Police are investigating two fires set inside USPS mailboxes set Wednesday night. The first fire, according to reports, occurred "in a mailbox standing near the corner of Sansome and Bush streets at around 2 a.m." The second happened in the 900 block of Pine. more ›

We're receiving word that the porta-potty arsonist otherwise known as the Toilet Torcher (or a copycat) lit another porta-potty on fire last night around 10:20 p.m. in the Laurel Heights neighborhood, near Presidio Ave. and Clay Street. This is the first we've heard from him/her since mid-November, but consider yourselves warned. more ›

A car fire in the city of Richmond last night is, presumably, related to the other car fires sweeping the East Bay. KTVU reports: :Units responded to reports of a vehicle fire in the area of Clinton Street and Ventura Avenue at around 3:15 a.m. and arrived to find a 1993 BMW on fire, Richmond police said." No arrests were made; no injuries were reported. more ›

More vehicles were set ablaze in the recent string of car fire hitting the Bay Area. BCN reports, "The fires were reported at around 2:15 a.m. in the 2100 block of Vale Road near San Pablo Avenue, where two vehicles appear to have been set ablaze at the same location." No injuries were reported; no arrests. Over 20 cars have been torched in the last month. more ›

Two vehicles had to be extinguished by firefighters this morning in the city's South of Market District. According to Appeal/BCN, "Units responded to Jessie and Sixth streets at around 5:15 a.m. to a report of a vehicle fire ... Two vehicles were found burned at the same location." more ›

Well, this is getting downright creepy. Two "deliberately set" cars were set ablaze last night in the city of Richmond. BCN reports, that "[t]he first occurred at a home in the 600 block of 12th Street at around 11:45 p.m." where a 1999 Pontiac Grand Am was toasted. Then, around two hours later, a "second fire was reported in a driveway in the 4300 block of Center Avenue at around 1:40 a.m.," this time a 1990 Mitsubishi. more ›

The carsonist -- or a copycat carsonist, or a copycat copycatting the copycat carsonist -- stuck three times in the Easy Bay last night. Three evening car fires hit San Pablo, and authorities are seeing if they're related to the recent string of auto immolation in El Sobrante. more ›

Let's face it, the Carsonist has been a pale imitation of the infamous Toilet Torcher. Which is why we were amused to hear that the Toilet Torcher (or a copycat) made a dramatic return at around 1 a.m. this morning in the city's Pac Heights hood. more ›

While we can't say for certain that this morning's most recent vehicular fire is the work of the carsonist -- the lunatic who immolated SF cars earlier this year -- they do have a lot in common. Last night, for example, "[a]uthorities responded to a car fire Tuesday morning in unincorporated Contra Costa County, close to where 3 vehicle fires were reported over the weekend and at least 10 were reported last week." more ›

Three more cars were torched Saturday, all of them being "less than a mile away from one another, and at about the same time." This comes on the heels of 12 vehicles getting charred crispy black in the East Bay last week. more ›

ABC7 is reporting on a string of 10 car fires that broke out early this morning, beginning with multiple locations along San Pablo Dam Road in Richmond (that's the City of Richmond, not *the* Richmond where the SF carsonist frequently struck). Police seem to already be honing in on a suspect, and unlike the SF carsonist, this one was a little more aggressive and a little less wily. Assuming this is a different carsonist, what is it about 2009 that makes this the era of car fires? more ›

Another car was lit ablaze, this one over in the Sunset district. Over at Irving Street at Great Highway last night, authorities responded to a report of a small vehicle fire at 9 p.m.-ish. The car fire was put out immediately. No word as to who or what started the blaze. Pot busts and car fires, a regular feature in the Sunset. Alas. more ›

You want another car fire? Well, we've got another car fire for you. An auto was set ablaze early this morning outside the Oakland Hills home of UC President Mark Yudof. The fire was started sometime before 2 a.m., and the bomb squad was also called in since it was right across the street from where the UC President lives. No arrests have been made. Yudof's home, as many of you know, has played host to a myriad of protests in the past, most recently due to UC budget cuts. more ›

Although a 62-year-old homeless woman named Fafa Chan is considered the prime suspect in last month's auto fires, and also in that string of porta-potty fire earlier this year, a car fire erupted early this morning. It seems, according to reports, someone "set a book on fire and placed it underneath a rear tire of a Honda Accord near the corner of 21st Avenue and Balboa Street"in the Richmond around 3:15 a.m. Which is interesting. Anyway, no injures were reported, no arrests were made. more ›