Hotel Doorman Turns Fireman in Union Square

Joe Eskenazi

It's all in a day's work for this hotel doorman

​In San Francisco, one should never underestimate the ability of those ambulating around the city to stroll past ghastly sights and not turn their heads. After all, if you stop and make conversation, you'll probably be hit on for a donation.

On the other hand, the small blaze spewing smoke out of this Union Square garbage can was not going to ask anyone for a dollar. Your humble narrator came across the situation and quickly found himself unable to effect any change. There was no jumbo-sized cup of Starbucks handy to douse the smoldering papers, the can couldn't be opened -- an the other method of wetting the flames we conceived of on the fly seemed more socially unacceptable than a burning trash can.

So we flagged down the doorman at the nearby Hyatt Hotel. But he was already on the case. The  black-suited man calmly wandered over with a fire extinguisher, and blasted the conflagration into nonexistence with a few quick bursts. He then exclaimed "And no marshmallows in sight!" before returning to his post.