Shortly after 3am on Saturday, an unknown arsonist set fire to the awning at the Upper Haight location of clothing store Ambiance (1458 Haight St.)

Fire and police crews responded to a call made by a neighbor, and the fire was extinguished shortly thereafter. No one was injured, and damage to the building was minimal, an employee said. The case is currently under investigation by the Fire Department. 

A tipster told us that the fire was the second of the night on Haight Street, and that another minor blaze had also gone up at Haight and Cole. But if such an incident occurred, it went unreported, as the SFPD and Fire Department did not receive any calls about it. 

An Ambiance spokesperson told us that the fire wasn't as bad as it could have been, in large part because the awning itself is flame-retardant. But why an arsonist might attempt to torch the store, which just underwent a major renovation, remains a mystery.

Starting a fire in such a lofty spot might seem like a difficult task, but the building next to Ambiance is covered in scaffolding, so it seems likely that the arsonist scaled the scaffolding to torch the awning. 

As for the rumored second fire, Cole Street between Haight and Page has been the site of multiple scaffolding-covered building restorations in recent weeks, one of which is still active. Many neighbors believe the scaffolding is contributing to an increase in late-night activity and homeless encampments; we'll have more on that tomorrow.