Karen Kucher from the U-T reported on a weird scene in Ocean Beach Thursday morning on Voltaire Street.
A troubled man awoke the firefighters at OB’s fire station by banging on their windows and yelling around 6:15 am. Kucher reported the man tried to break into the station. He also attacked a palm tree, yelled obscenities and was taken into custody by police charged with felony vandalism.
Then his house on Ebers – near Long Branch – was on fire – and the very firefighters the guy awoke, had to go extinguish the fire in the kitchen. The guy’s dog was found unharmed and handed over to the San Diego Humane Society.
The man remains unidentified. Kucher reported the station’s firefighters had to call for cover from police when they realized someone was attacking their station. “Video from the scene showed police taking a shirtless man into custody. He had blood on his head and face.”
“He did a number on our banana tree and hit several of the windows, thankfully only breaking one,” the battalion chief said. “But he was really out of control and acting out of sorts. It was very concerning for the firefighters who were just getting up from their shift.”
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To paraphrase Seuss “And to think that it happened on Voltaire Street…”, might as well be “Mulberry St.” I lived a block east of the fire station, and we saw it all: frequent dust-ups, dumpster pickers, alley squatters, skateboard videographers, parrots, chronic evictions, planes and more planes, fender benders, loud mariachi music, bouncy castles on the sidewalk. Never, ever, a dull moment… :-)
I would like to hear more about the handling of this incident. Did the 911 dispatch also involve mental health professionals or did they just dispatch the SDPD?
On a related note, everyone should have the SD crisis line in their ‘phone contacts: 888-724-7240 (7/24). The next time there is bizarre behavior (not accompanied by violence, as in this case, of course . . . 911 was the appropriate response) try calling the hot line for proper help/intervention.