FROM:
http://www.contracostatimes.com/crimeandcourts/ci_8259572

Fire department running after burning palm trees in Antioch
By Matthias Gafni
STAFF WRITER

Article Launched: 02/14/2008 03:09:26 AM PST

ANTIOCH -- Antioch may have a serial palm tree arsonist on its hands.
In the past couple of days, someone has intentionally torched downtown palm trees at least three times, Contra Costa Fire Capt. Chris Allen said Wednesday as his truck responded to the latest blaze.

In Wednesday's fire, firefighters quickly doused the trunk of a palm just off A Street near West Second Street. The intentionally set blaze was right next to a pair of palms that were burned Tuesday, and another completely charred tree about 75 feet away, Allen said. A charred barbecue could be seen at the foot of Wednesday's charred tree, but it was unclear how the individual set fire to the tree.

The arsonist also burned a palm tree at the foot of H Street earlier this week, Allen said.

"It does seem kind of odd that these have all been palm trees. Maybe they've got something against Hawaii," he said.

So far, the fires have been set in trees largely away from structures, but with drier weather and a closer proximity to buildings the danger will increase, Allen said.

Reach Matthias Gafni at 925-779-7174 or mgafni@bayareanewsgroup.com.

Thats wierd that someone would go around burning palm trees. Maybe they have something to do with the people in San Jose who want to replace all of their downtown palms with coastal redwoods. I personally think it's a waste of time. Why not leave the palms as they are, instead of wasting money in removing HUGE palms and planting pines? Redwoods give streets and eerie look anyway, why would you want to give such an eerie look to such a beautiful downtown like San Jose's. Just my thoughts.

Let's all light a candle tonight in memory of those fallen trees and pray that justice will be switftly brought to this terrorist.

How about let's all light many candles under him ?

I hope they wait a year or so after the fire to see if the palm survives before they rip it out. Washingtonias are surprizingly resilient. You can see fire scars on the naturally occuring ones in the desert southwest.

Washintonia filiferas typically keep their skirts when left untrimmed. These 'fire-hazards-on-a-stick' are often too tempting for young arsonists to resist. All it takes is a cig lighter to one leaf blade. It happened a lot in Phoenix when I lived there. I don't think they have anything against palms per se. They just want to create a little excitement -- sort of like graffiti, but much more dangerous.

Palm Qaeda?,Palm Panthers?, the Unapalmer?,...