San Francisco authorities are investigating two incidents in which a pair of Tesla Model Y vehicles caught fire within a span of just two blocks early Saturday morning. Footage of one of the incidents shows an unidentified individual lighting what appears to be paper on fire and placing it atop one of the electric crossover’s tires, leading to an intense blaze.
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The Model Y, whose arsonist was caught on camera, was located on Shipley Street, while the other vehicle was situated on Bonifacio Street. The owner of the first Tesla, Van Vuong, resides in Seattle, Washington. He was in San Francisco for the weekend visiting his sons at dentistry school when the fire occurred, he told SFGate. He didn’t learn of the fire until he went out to take it for a drive later that morning and found only ashes.
“We walked by it, thinking, ‘Oh my God, look what happened here,’” Vuong said. “It didn’t take long before I realized, ‘Shoot, where’s my car?’”
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Read: Crowd Burns Down Waymo Robotaxi In San Francisco
Arsonist sets 2 @Tesla Model Y’s, 1 blk apart, on fire in SF SOMA early Saturday morning. Exclusive video of man lighting papers he put on top of tire. Sped up vid shows flames destroy SUV. Owner asks why target Tesla. @KPIXtv story w/ vid & interview:https://t.co/6RkSOduUBo pic.twitter.com/4ZLOJVdnZd
— Da Lin (@DaKPIX) February 26, 2024
Unable to reach the San Francisco Police Department through its non-emergency line, he was forced to bike to the station to find out what happened to his vehicle. He expressed surprise, stating that he had expected his car to be safe despite being parked on the street overnight.
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Meanwhile, the owner of the second Model Y that caught fire last weekend, who identified himself to the news site simply as Chris, stated that his vehicle was parked in a neighborhood generally considered safe. According to The San Francisco Chronicle, he lives in the area and discovered the fire when he couldn’t locate his EV as he was preparing to run errands with his wife and seven-month-old child.
“We didn’t even hear any sirens or explosions last night when it happened, so we were completely surprised when we couldn’t find our car,” the 33-year old told the newspaper. “First thought was maybe I parked somewhere else, then second thought was maybe someone stole it, then saw the ashes.”
Although no footage of the fire that burned Chris’s Tesla has yet emerged, police told him that they are looking for surveillance video from nearby buildings, and believe that he may have also been the victim of arson.
So far, no motive for one or a pair of arsonists to target Tesla Model Y EVs specifically has emerged. However, these incidents follow another fire that engulfed a Waymo autonomous test vehicle in the city two weeks ago. It’s worth noting that the Waymo fire was set by a crowd of people, though.
