Posted on 10/30/2007 10:11:26 PM PDT by Santa Fe_Conservative
Edited on 10/30/2007 10:38:14 PM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
SANTA CLARITA, Calif. - A boy playing with matches started a fire in north Los Angeles County that consumed more than 38,000 acres and destroyed 21 homes last week, authorities said Tuesday. Sheriff's Sgt. Diane Hecht said she did not know the boy's exact age, but she believed he was younger than a teenager.
The boy, whose name and age were not released, was interviewed a day after the Buckweed Fire was sparked Oct. 21, said sheriff's Sgt. Diane Hecht.
"He admitted to playing with matches and accidentally starting the fire," said Hecht said in a statement.
The boy was released to his parents, and the case will be be presented to the district attorney's office, Hecht said.
The 60-square-mile fire began in an area near Agua Dulce and quickly spread by fierce desert winds. It was among more than a dozen major wildfires that killed 14 people and blackened 809 square miles from Los Angeles to the Mexican border.
Authorities arrested five people for arson during that period, but none have been linked to any of the major blazes.
Wanna bet he was an anchor baby?
What a great story!
ROFL! Great image.
LOL, I hope she’s following directions now.
Thanks for the response.
D1
That’s pretty much it. You take care.
D1
I agree that you need to teach kids right from wrong. And on the unimportant things, or even some moderately important things, it’s okay to let kids make mistakes. I would agree that you allow for that. When it comes to matches and something that could cost lives or severe property loss, I think you have to take that choice out of their hands.
I do understand where you’re coming from and I support it for most things.
Take care.
D1
I will add that my son was born on March 11th. By Christmas that year I taught him that he couldn’t touch the Christmas tree. He wanted to pull himself up with it, and he was such a half-pint at the time, I had to teach not to touch it at all or he would have pulled it over on himself.
Anita Vogel on Fox just said the boy is under 10yrs old. If that is true I don’t see a prosecution.
I’d like to know if it’s a real kid or one of those media 22 year old kids
so where were his parents?
Yes, I’m sure the multi-billion dollar tab is just pocket change to them. No kids eh?
___________________________________________
The parents should pay something for the damage caused. Maybe say something in public? It seems like they are going to get off scott free and not take responsibility. What is the lesson learned. It is you can start a fire and not suffer any consequences. They need to be held accountable. People here are making excuses for the kid and parents. If you did something wrong as a kid, you punished. Kids do need love growing up, but they screw up and get into trouble. They need to learn the lesson. This, however, is a very costly one.
Has anyone suspected that this could be a plant by the ELF fruitcakes? They can commit all the destruction they want and get completely off the hook by getting a kid to take the blame. —just a thought.
I lit a small leaf pile on fire with a magnifying glass when I was 9 or 10. Shocked me that it worked!! I got it out before anybody knew I did it!
I also nearly set a pillow on fire in my room whilst sneaking a cigarette. The cig started the pillow smoldering, luckily it was a small throw pillow and I put that one out too!
My brother set our basement on fire when he was four, playing with matches. My mother used to ‘stuff envelopes’ to earn some extra money, and there were many boxes of envelopes in the basement, nice kindling indeed.
He came upstairs and closed the door to the basement and stood there with guilt all over his little face. My mother knew something was up, moved him away from the door and saw the fire. Yelled for my older sister to get a pot of water, she just screamed instead, the panicky one. I remember myself being outside seeing the fire in the basement window. Luckily a neighbor across the street ran over and put out the fire with our garden hose. When the fire dept. and police arrived, my mother had the cop talk to my brother to make a good impression on what he had done. I remember being mad because we were going to go Christmas shopping that night and the little brat ruined it!!
A few days ago we were told that this was arson, and that the person or persons who did it clearly knew what they were doing.<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
There were 18 fires going at one point. I believe the fire that appeared to have been “started by someone who knew what they were doing” was one of the others, maybe Santiago or one of the Big Bear fires.
All we know is that the poor kid is under 13. To young. IMHO, a kid playing with matches should be considered a natural disaster.
So the kid’s name is: Glow Ball War-Ming?
Well said.
The kid was 9 years old.
Some interesting details were just revealed.
The kid lived with his parents in a trailer, or mobile home on the property of a horse type camp or riding academy for disabled children, and they revealed the kids father had a job there, "taking care of the horses".
The academy has requested that the family leave.
There are such things as strong-willed children. Children are *smart*. Some kids are determined. Unless you have one of these kids, you have *no* idea what they are capable of.
I am a *very* aware SAH mom. I didn't get into soaps or allow myself to even get distracted with crafts when my son was young. But I was human. Sometimes I needed to sleep. Sometimes I needed a shower. I tried like hell to make sure he was sleeping or otherwise safe, but he still managed to get into *many* scary situations. At times I felt like pulling out my own hair, but all I could do was stay alert and wait for him to grow out of it. Thank G-d, eventually he did! But it's a miracle that he survived!
Imagine a three year old breaking his own window with a piece of his bed to crawl outside at 4AM on a bitterly cold winter morning to play with the car antenna while his parents were sleeping. Or a four year old crawling out of his window onto the roof when he was supposed to be taking a nap while mom was doing dishes. Or a three year old, running outside while you're cycling the laundry, starting the family car and driving it into the house. (I swear, he did it in less than 60 seconds. I didn't even get the dryer sheets into the dryer before the "BOOM" shook the whole house.) Or a six year old calling 911 to report a murder while his mom was taking a shower on a Saturday morning and he was supposed to be watching cartoons and eating his breakfast. (It was a ten minute shower.) Not all kids are like this. My daughter didn't do *any* of these things!
Was a he a bad kid? Nope. He was a curious kid. An intelligent kid who saw every obstacle we threw up as a puzzle to be solved. He was a prideful kid who wanted to prove he could do everything we could do. Right now he's 14 and a wonderful teen. Compassionate, funny and lovable in every way. (A bit of a show-off at the moment, but that too will pass.)
Parents are *not* gods. I had every child-proof lock invented in my house and he went past every one in less than a minute. ("The Boy Test" is what we called it.) Honestly, I think it's stunning that more of these things aren't reported every day.
Have some compassion for the parents of such a child. Have compassion for such a child! (My son felt horrible guilt when the consequences slammed him into the ground. And he eventually learned.) There is a serious difference between being malicious and for being curious. The consequences should reflect that.
(BTW, FOX news stated this morning that the kid was under 13. If he's a 17 year old punk, forget what I said. The kid has issues. What would be called normal curiosity in an 11 year old becomes criminal with time. Older kids know better.)
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