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 ›

Yes, yes, this very likely isn't the same carsonist who kept us on our toes for much of last year (or this recent string of 12 arsons in Berkeley), but just on the off chance... Six cars were torched last night in the long-term parking lot at SFO, with a seventh damaged from the heat of the multiple blazes. 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 ›

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 ›

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 ›

There was another car fire in the Richmond last night, the first since that string of them in July which, as you might recall, the SFPD was trying to pin on loony transient Fafa Chan. When another fire was set under a car in the Richmond a couple weeks after putting Chan in custody (we are not real journalists otherwise we might have looked into Ms. Chan's whereabouts), it appeared they maybe had the wrong gal/guy, or else Chan had spawned imitators. Anyhow, whoever it is, they're back. Watch your porta-potties, and don't park any cars in the Richmond that you hope to keep. 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 ›

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 ›

First, it's no longer the Auto Arsonist, it's "Carsonist" (TM: Eve Batey) which is way radder sounding. Second, he or she took the night off. The person(s) responsible for at least 12 car fires since Saturday didn't strike last night. (One possible reason? A female arsonist was arrested last night at the Transbay Terminal, but police have yet to connect her to the car torches, so we cannot hand her the carsonist sash and tiara just yet.) But if you know anything about this week's rash of auto fires, please call the SFPD. more ›