If you were trying to get through the Divisadero and Ellis intersection today, you weren't. A garbage truck caught fire, sending thick smoke billowing through the neighborhood and shutting down traffic in the area.

No word yet on what caused the blaze or whether anyone was injured, but residents in the area reported heavy smoke and a complete shutdown of through traffic around the intersection. If you're commuting through the Western Addition or NoPa, plan an alternate route.

Let's state the obvious: garbage trucks are massive diesel-powered vehicles hauling flammable materials through dense residential neighborhoods every single day. When one of them turns into a bonfire at a busy intersection, it's not just a traffic inconvenience — it's a public safety event. Thick smoke in a neighborhood where people live, walk, and bike is no joke.

The bigger question worth asking is about the maintenance and oversight of the trucks serving San Francisco's waste collection. Recology holds what is essentially a monopoly on the city's garbage collection, and San Franciscans already pay some of the highest waste collection rates in the country. When you're shelling out top dollar for trash pickup, you'd at least hope the equipment is maintained well enough to not spontaneously combust on a city street.

We'll be watching for more details on the cause and whether this was a freak incident or something that points to a deeper maintenance issue. In the meantime, if you're in the area, steer clear and let first responders do their thing.

San Francisco's infrastructure is aging, its services are expensive, and its accountability mechanisms are weak. A burning garbage truck might seem like a one-off spectacle, but it's worth asking: who's minding the fleet?