A van, and SUV, and the bumper of a sedan were all damaged after what police say was an early-morning case of car-arsons in the Castro.
According to the San Francisco Police department, San Francisco Fire and police officers responded to reports of burning vehicles in the 500 block of Noe Street, which is between 18th and 19th Streets, at 2 a.m. Wednesday. (Note: the news reports we quote below describe this area as "Noe Valley," but it seems way more like the Castro to us. Your thoughts are welcomed.)
According to KRON4, paint cans were placed beneath a van and an SUV, and were likely used to start the fires that burned out both vehicles.
The bumper of a third car was damaged, ABC7 reports, melted by the blaze of the adjacent flaming vehicle.
Police don't know if the van and SUV were targeted by the carsonist, but KRON did note that the two were not parked next to each other, suggesting that they were chosen by their attacker.
ABC7 points out that we have one man to thank that the damage wasn't worse: Noah Votaw, who works at that 7-11 on 18th Street at Noe, saw the fires, grabbed a fire extinguisher, and did what he could to save the day before the SFFD arrived.
"I just wanted to make sure that everybody was clear and that the car wasn't going to explode, for one," Votaw told ABC7.
"Basically, if I could have put the fire out, I would have."
As SFPD says that they have neither any witnesses nor any suspects, they are eager to get the public's help. You can contact them with any information — anonymously — at 415-575-4444 or can text an anonymous tip to TIP411 with SFPD at beginning of message.