In a state with a year-round fire season, extreme heat, severe drought, and firefighting resources already strained past the breaking point, what did the fucktards in question do?
They left some furniture–an overstuffed chair and a couple of mattresses/frames–behind an abandoned building, which happens to be right behind me, and set the stuff on fire. Or maybe someone else did. I really can’t know for sure, because there is a six-foot wall behind my backyard and the other yards on my side of the street, and I can’t see over it easily.
I smelled the smoke through the bathroom window, ran outside, got on a ladder, saw the problem, and called the fire dept., which promptly showed up along with a cop. A neighbor came to my door to tell me what I already knew was going on; others expressed concern too. I watched the dept. put the fire out; the cop and a fire guy spoke to me and said to call them if I ever hear any funny business going on back there. I thanked them for their service and went back inside for some a/c, since it is freaking hot here.
It’s hard to monitor suspicious activity, since the aforementioned building was a very big store and has been lying fallow since last year. Anyone can go back there now and make trouble any time they want, since the nearest businesses are hundreds of yards away.
Thank goodness the neighbors around here are pretty good about communicating with one another and watching out for stuff like this. If I hadn’t called, one of them would have.
I still wish I could have caught the arsonist in action or at least gotten the license #. I hope they set themselves on fire.