arson firegeezer on 24 Feb 2008 09:48 am
Historic “Fire Chief’s Residence” Trashed, Torched
ONE OF SAN FRANCISCO’S HISTORIC BUILDINGS is the Fire Chief’s Residence, built in 1923 to provide housing for the city’s fire chief.
It is still owned by the city and while it is no longer provided as a “perk” for the fire chief, it is used as an official residence for visiting dignitaries and such other similar uses as needed. On occasion it is used to provide temporary lodging for high-level government officials that have just arrived in town to take a newly-appointed job and need transitional housing.
This was the case when John Rahaim arrived in town from Seattle last month to take over as head of the Planning Department. But he also brought his boyfriend, Lance Farber, along with him and while Rahaim was at a function Friday night, Farber got into a snit about something. He phoned Rahaim and told him that he was going to set the house on fire.
Rahaim immediately called 9-1-1 and reported the threat. When the fire and police got there, they found a mattress on fire in an upstairs bedroom and the house vandalized.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports:
The inside of the home looked “like there was a huge frat party,” said sources familiar with the investigation, who asked to be unnamed because of the sensitive nature of the case.
Tables were overturned, antique furniture that was part of the historic residence was broken, pictures were knocked off the wall, and crushed tomatoes were smeared on the rugs and walls.
Though the fire was limited to a mattress, box spring and comforter inside an upstairs bedroom, the whole home reeked of smoke.
About an hour later, Farber was arrested in the next county on a DUI charge and he was identified as the arson suspect then. He has been charged with one count of arson of an inhabited dwelling and one count of felony vandalism, police said.
Damage is initially estimated to be around $10,000.
San Francisco was the first city in the U. S. to build a residence for its fire chief and it was designed to look like a firehouse. It was named in honor of Chief Engineer Dennis T. Sullivan who lost his life during the Earthquake of 1906 tragedy.
The Chronicle has the full story HERE.
