Suspected arson wipes out Filipino family’s fleet of rental buses

Photos shared by SFFD show numerous San Francisco Minibus vehicles damaged and charred.

SAN FRANCISCO – Arson is suspected in the burning of a fleet of tourist minibuses parked in a lot owned by the state, and a Filipino family is struggling to save their business just as tourist season starts in the city.

The fire occurred April 9 in a fenced but not well-secured lot rented from by state of California, under Interstate 280 in the Potrero Hill neighborhood.

Siblings Montsie and Miguel Guerrero said the fire was the latest in a series of criminal events experienced by San Francisco Minibus, which was established 45 years ago by their immigrant grandparents who fled the Marcos dictatorship.

The company was founded in 1978 and charters buses for tours, weddings and corporate events.

Video images of the raging fire were shared by the San Francisco Fire Department.

The siblings report having problems with unhoused people setting up camp nearby. “We’re victims of the homeless situation,” Montsie Guerrero said.

She said their employees were afraid to go into the lot whose fences are frequently cut open by trespassers.

“We’re victims of the homeless situation,” Montsie Guerrero said. SCREENGRAB

They said one trespasser threatened to burn the lot, and an eyewitness told KTVU News of seeing a man throw a Molotov cocktail at the buses.

Minibuses have been vandalized, some illegally broken into to be slept and cooked in, and one was stolen and used to steal packages from homes. Catalytic converters also have been stolen.

Mario Guerrero, who manages the small business, said it is struggling to survive.

Insurance will only pay for the depreciated value of the aging fleet, not the cost of replacing it with buses that are now more expensive. Loans are tough especially with current high interest rates.

The grandchildren have set up a GoFundMe page for donations to help the family business, which has several employees depending on it.