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 ›

Two car fires broke out under some suspicious circumstances in Golden Gate Park on Saturday night — and both vehicles have connections to the city's Rec and Parks Department. The first vehicle, a Honda belonging to a Rec and Parks employee, was spotted on fire around 8:30 Saturday night behind the bandshell at the Music Concourse in the park. About an hour later, a marked Rec and Parks truck reportedly "went up in a ball of flames" after an officer witnessed an explosion that lifted the vehicle in to the air. more ›

Bucking conventional wisdom about how crime rises as incomes fall and unemployment rises, the FBI's latest report on nationwide crime statistics for 2009 shows an overall decline in both violent and non-violent crime. In the West, there was an overall 8% decline in the murder rate, a 4% decline in burglaries, and a 17.5% decline in auto theft over 2008 figures. As you may recall, our own city's murder rate was sliced in half, from 98 in 2008 to 45. 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 ›

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 ›

As KRON4 is telling us, a 62-year-old homeless woman named Fafa Chan, who police recognized at a bus stop after seeing her starting a fire on a surveillance video, is the prime carsonist suspect in that string of auto fires last month, and also in that string of porta-potty blazes this past winter. Both strings of fires were centered around the Russian Hill vicinity, where Fafa likes to hang, but so far police haven't put together much evidence of Fafa's guilt besides the fact that the fires stopped as soon as they had her in custody. Obviously she isn't much of a talker. more ›

You thought the Toilet Torcher was gone? Nah. Now that the rain has passed, the outhouse arsonist has struck again, this time all the way over at Baker Beach. According to Emergency_In_SF, "[a]nother portable toilet up in flames. This time at Baker's Beach. San Francisco Fire Department has it extinguished." The Toilet Torcher, if you recall, typically sets potties ablaze in Nob Hill and Russian Hill. This most recent crapper attack strays from his or her normal path of destruction. more ›

Flickr photog Erik Gibb managed to snap these super pics of Sunday's Portreo Hill porta-potty immolation, which brought the number of blazes to 23 since November. If we're not mistaken, these are the first images of the Toilet Torcher's criminal activity in progress. Fortunately, the rain prevented the fire from igniting the trees along the sidewalk. this could have been much worse. more ›

Another porta-potty was found torched in San Francisco this past Sunday afternoon, but this it happened in the Potrero Hill neighborhood. Reported at 4:25 p.m., the flame-up happened at the intersection of Kansas and 15th streets. Could this be a copycat? We can't imagine the Toilet Torcher, whose neighborhood preference of immolation are swank Russian Hill and Nob Hill, would dare stray from the upper echelons. Anyway, this most recent outhouse arson is the 23rd incident since early November. more ›

If we may get all TV Guide you for a second: Cheers, SF Weekly, for reporting on the Toilet Torcher's illuminating crime wave. You have proven a formidable journalistic force when it comes to porta-potty arson in the Russian Hill, Nob Hill and Marina . The Toilet Torcher has just immolated his or her 22nd crapper, this time on the 700 block of Chestnut yesterday, and you manage to keep up with the fiery fella. Kudos. more ›

San Francisco's Toilet Torcher is making national headlines. (Also, AP is calling him or her the "Toilet Torcher," to which SFist will take full credit, thank you. Ha ha.) And for some it's positively vexing. Scott Johnson, a 57-year-old contractor who was working on apartment building renovations in Russian Hill, describes the immolations as "an outrage." more ›

Jim Herd over at SFCitizen captured the gruesome aftermath of the Toilet Torcher's 21st victim. This just makes it all too real. more ›

For three months, porta-potties in the Marina, North Beach, and Russian Hill have gone up in flames. Rob Spectre at Dream Not of Today created this illuminating map that shows just where portable outhouses fell victim to San Francisco's favorite evasive arsonist/arsonists. Spectre goes on to report that authorities and citizens are downright flummoxed. more ›

The porta-potty arsonist has struck again, this time at at the 1200 block of Washington Street during the wee hours this morning, according to reports. No was was injured, no arrests have been made. (Are there really, THAT many porta-potties in Russian Hill? Seems an unusual amount of kindle for this guy to burn.) more ›