Reports of portable restroom arson prompted an online discussion at the www.Inspector911.com website where a fire investigator asked colleagues to talk about their experience with restroom fires. The discussion forum writer asked others for input on burn rates for common polyethylene units in vandalism cases. You can view the forum entry at http://inspector911.com/codequestions/viewtopic.php?f=11&p=1825
“Most of our outdoor venues utilize numerous of these units side by side. They actually burned pretty hot and melt all the way down to the wood pallet base,’’ the poster wrote. “I have never heard of anyone getting burned while in the unit as it was ignited. I guess it could be a matter of time. Having these units near a structure could be a fire hazard as well as the toxic smoke exposure.
A respondent said he talked to a restroom contractor who has suffered unit losses, and explained it takes more than a lit match to burn a restroom. “After talking with investigators after the individuals get caught torching his units, they mostly used lighter fluid, road flares, etc. or take the toilet paper off roll and ball it up loosely and use this as a means of setting the units on fire.’’
Several months ago in this blog I reported on a rash of restroom fires in the San Francisco area.
What is your experience with restroom arson vandalism? Have you seen more cases in recent months and years? Send me an e-mail at editor@promonthly.com and I’ll share your experiences with readers.
