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A Filipino family who owns a charter company in San Francisco was devastated after losing many of their vehicles in an alleged arson.

A dozen minibuses, which is half of the company's fleet, went up in flames on April 10 in a fenced-out lot owned by the state under a San Francisco freeway.

The company's manager, Mario Guerrero, believes the fire was started by a disgruntled person who is among the homeless people who often break into the lot.

"They come in, cut the fence, come inside, and go inside of the buses, especially during the winter," he said. "In the daytime when we come here, we kick them up. We fix the fence. They’re back again the next night. It’s just gotten worse over the past couple of months. It’s getting very bad."

Guerrero added that the incident is a major setback to the company, which employs a hundred employees.

He said they have only started to recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The company has also been a repeated victim of theft and vandalism.

"The biggest loss is not the vehicle," Guerrero said. "[it] is the revenue loss. It’s a lot larger than the vehicles themselves. I can’t put other people to work because there’s no vehicle. That’s their tool to get to work."

Guerrero's parents started the San Francisco Minibus in 1978 and grew their business for their children and grandchildren.

"We were one of the first people around here to do the shuttles," said Guerrero. "It started small but it kind of blossomed to a big thing, little by little."

The grandchildren of the Guerrero family had set up a GoFundMe campaign to help pay for the damage and sustain their family's business.

Guerrero said the insurance company will only pay for the depreciated value of the destroyed vehicles which he added will not be enough to replace them.