Posted on 10/31/2007 10:03:17 AM PDT by nmh
SANTA CLARITA, Calif. — Officials blamed a wildfire that consumed more than 38,000 acres and destroyed 21 homes last week on a boy playing with matches, and said they would ask a prosecutor to consider the case.
The boy, whose name and age were not released, admitted to sparking the fire on Oct. 21, Los Angeles County sheriff's Sgt. Diane Hecht said Tuesday. Ferocious winds helped it quickly spread.
"He admitted to playing with matches and accidentally starting the fire," Hecht said in a statement.
The boy was released to his parents, and the case will be presented to the district attorney's office, Hecht said. It was not clear if he had been arrested or cited by detectives.
The fire began in an area near Agua Dulce and quickly spread. It was among 15 or so major wildfires that destroyed some 2,100 homes and blackened 809 square miles from Los Angeles to the Mexican border last week. Seven deaths were blamed directly on the fires, six evacuees died of natural causes and one person died of a fall.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
They just mentioned on fox that this kid was under 10. He was playing with the matches in his back yard when the wind caught it.
10 is old enough to know better. Years ago a friend of mine caught her son of about that age, playing with matches and she took him to the fire station. They had a talk with him and suggested that she take him through the burn unit at the hospital. She did and he never played with matches again. He learned a lot from that experience.
He’s under 10. How much under, they didn’t say.
Playing with matches in a place like Agua Dulce when winds are gusting up to 100 mph is not okay. Everybody needs to be made aware of this, including kids.
Yep, under 10 is too vague and by giving that much info they might as well just say how old he is and be done with it.
One article said he was a pre-teen.
Immigrants of some kind? Legal or illegal?
Well, that’s what “boy” says to me. It would be another story if it was an older teenage punk who knew what he was doing.
When I was about 6, I think, a friend of mine and I got hold of some matches, were playing with them, and managed to set a field of dry grass on fire. Pretty scary.
Fortunately the surrounding woods were green and moist, and the fire department got it out.
I certainly learned my lesson, just running for my life as the flames shot out of control. No need for community service, it wasn’t something I would ever do again.
Your telling me thins reminds me of something a friend told me 30 years ago and I haven’t thought of since.
He grew up in a wealthy community in NY state. He and a friend were in a large abandoned house in his neighborhood playing with matches. Well, the house burnt to the ground. He ran home and was never caught.
Sounds like this happens a lot. :)
400,000 hours of community service sounds about right.
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