Fire Bug

This blog post is a two-fer. It’s also posted on 98.1 Free-FM’s website.  But it felt so good to confess that I thought confessing a second time might feel even better!  In case you’re not aware, the St. Thomas Walmart caught fire last Sunday.  And now you’re up to date.

There are some kids in St. Thomas who are tapping through their text-message allowances right now and freaking out over whether they’ll get caught for setting that city’s Walmart on fire.  

Police have them on surveillance video.  Three of them, their ages between 12 and 16, are seen lighting the fire behind the store and then taking off on their BMX-style bikes.  Fools.   So it’s only a matter of time until a parent picks up on something or the video is enhanced and they’re found.   They probably think, in their little still-developing brains, that if they run they can elude responsibility for what they’ve done.  I doubt very much that this crime will go unsolved.

I once started a fire that could have become a disaster.  The difference is, it was an accident and quick action prevented it from getting out of control.  My public school pal Bonnie Davey and I often walked home together and we would part ways at an intersection.  Her route would take her over a bridge that essentially went over two giant hills.  Sometimes we would scootch down one side of the hill and have a smoke that one of us had stolen from our parents.

On this particular day one of us must have tossed a match without making sure it was extinguished because the dried grass caught fire with such fury and it spread so fast that we both completely freaked out.  Bonnie ran “to get water” and I was left to watch the field burn.  I had to do something.  I was wearing Bonnie’s jacket tied around my waist so I took it off and started beating the flames.  I remember the feeling of terror that the fire was getting away from me and I wasn’t going to be able to win the battle – but I did.  And just as the last flicker of flame went out, Bonnie came running across the road with a cup – a CUP – of water in her hand, spilling most of it as she ran.

Boy was she angry with me for ruining her jacket.  Bonnie just didn’t see the bigger picture.

Police in St. Thomas say the kids who lit the Walmart fire did it on purpose.  But did they mean to cause millions of dollars in damage? Or did something small that they wanted to burn get out of control and they panicked and ran, more worried about themselves than the hundreds of people inside the store?  Because that’s what kids do.  It all remains to be seen.

My parents never knew about the fire I set.  But I know that if I had caused fire trucks to come and if the blaze had threatened any homes, facing the police would be the least of my worries and not at all what I was worried about.  It’s Mom and Dad I’d have to be concerned with.  I hope these kids’ parents are like mine were. If they are, the kids will never, ever do anything so stupid again.