Porta Potty Arsonist Strikes Again

All it takes is a flame to piece of toilet paper

Another portable toilet was set ablaze in San Francisco's Russian  Hill neighborhood this morning, at least the 17th such incident in the area  since November.

The latest incident was reported at about 4:30 a.m. near the  intersection of Union and Gough streets, according to a fire dispatcher.

Firefighters responded to the area and put out the fire within  minutes, the dispatcher said.

Fire Lt. Mindy Talmadge said Thursday that no one has seen anyone  starting the fires.

In early December the fire department had to warn construction  site managers about the fires and asked them to move their toilets away from  buildings and trees.

The petroleum-based outhouses, commonly called porta-potties, are  highly flammable and can turn into a big puddle of blue goop within minutes,  scorching anything in its way, a porta-potty salesman said.

"Catch on fire? No problem. Light up the toilet paper and that'll  start it. Boom.

They'll be down in five minutes," according to salesman Cameron Vigil, of  Far West Sanitation Storage.

Vigil, who rents the toilets to sites across the Bay Area, said  his company has lost at least one or two to the Russian Hill fiasco, and  typically it will cost a client up to $1,000 to replace.

An arsonist has struck at least four times in November, 10 in  December and three times this year. Typically the toilets are lit between 1  a.m. and 6:30 a.m. but the fires have also happened at more random times such  as Saturday, Dec. 13, at 8:55 p.m.

An arsonist also decided to ring in the New Year shortly after 5  a.m.

Vigil said porta-potty fires are not uncommon but this many in  such a concentrated area is unusual.

Copyright Bay City News
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