Local churches are helping an Ocean Beach businesswoman who serves as an official representative to OB’s homeless get back on her feet after her car was allegedly intentionally firebombed in her residential parking space around 5 a.m. on Feb. 11. Bianca Koch said her BMW convertible was rapidly awash in flames after someone placed a small shoe box-shaped wooden container laden with an accelerant in the back seat before igniting it. Flames leaping up to 12 feet in the air awoke some of her neighbors, who called police and fire officials. The case — which captured the attention of local television newscasts, bloggers on the OB?Rag and has found tentacles on websites internationally — is under investigation by the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department’s Metro Arson Strike Team. The team is called if an incident involves a suspicious fire or explosive devices. No arrests have been made in connection with the case, and fire officials are declining to comment on the open investigation, said Det. Mike Rabell. Koch, a freelance writer for The Peninsula Beacon who also works with the homeless community alongside Ocean Beach church groups, said she believes the act was retaliation, in part, because of her article appearing in the Feb. 10 Beacon about homelessness in Ocean Beach. She said she is also now being asked by her landlady to leave her rented OB residence. “I have 60 days’ notice [to leave],” Koch said. “I have customers pulling out of accounts because I can’t get to them. All of a sudden, [without transportation] I couldn’t do anything.” Two community churches, The Harbor Presbyterian Church and The Oasis Christian Fellowship, have stepped up to help Koch by providing her a rental car for two weeks so she can follow up on lost work, according to Glyn Franks, who heads the Second Chances Bread of Life outreach organization. Franks, who has worked closely with Koch, said the local church community is coming together to help her when others in the local business and political community would not. “This is the U.S.,” said Franks. “So when a journalist is firebombed for printing a story, this demands [attention]. “This is way above and beyond what a reasonable citizenry should accept in their community.” Franks and Koch regularly attend meetings of the Ocean Beach MainStreet Association’s (OBMA) Crime Prevention Subcommittee and pointed out the incident during a recent meeting after the arson. The group is a subcommittee of the OBMA Economic Restructuring Committee. Crime Prevention Committee Chairwoman Julie Klein said Franks and Koch detailed the incident during the group’s public comment period, but added that as a merchant-based subcommittee, there is little the group can do other than inform the community when all the facts are in. Klein said residents and business owners were shocked after hearing of the incident. “Hopefully at the next meeting we can do something,” Klein said. Anyone with information leading to an arrest may be eligible for a reward to be determined by San Diego Crime Stoppers. Tips may be called in to (888) 580-8477 and (619) 531-1547 or recorded anonymously Tuesdays through Thursdays between 8 and 11 a.m. at (619) 531-1547.