Almost lost everything I own today

[alloy]

Was in my shop working on my nova and my wife came in mad as hell. She came out and smelled smoke and walked to the side of my shop and the neighbors yard and a piece of plywood was on fire just 10 ft from the side of my shop and house. The plywood was up against their little garage and flamers were 10ft in the air. She grabbed a bucket of water we have for the dog and threw it at the fire and that give her time to go get the hose. Their kids (boy and little girl) were standing there watching it and she yelled at them go go get their parents.

Their mom came out ****** at my wife. Didn't even say anything to the kids. The dad came out and it turns out the kids got a torch out of the back of his pickup. We have the kids on video earlier in the year coming over and trying to door to the shop to get in. Showed them the video and nothing happened. We also have them coming over and getting on some exercise equipment my wife has on our patio. Nothing happened then either. We don't blame the kids, we blame the parents.

We aren't sure what to do. This was serious and they don't seem to care. Wife want to get more cameras for the shop door and side of the shop towards their house. I don't think camera will stop them. They don't give a damn.

 

[Nutfarmer]

Glad someone was on the ball. That could have went very bad very quickly. Quick action on your wife's part saved a lot of damage and grief. Your thought that you could have lost your home is correct. This is just an observation from over thirty years of fire fighting. Thank God your wife was on the ball. When things go wrong they happen quick. Happy there was only minimal damage.

 

[Z2V]

Good to hear that there was no major damage to your property

You could bring it to the attention of the local fire marshal and the police department.
Make formal complaints with photos. You can’t have too many cameras. I have 10

Hope you can resolve the problem and still have a good relationship with your neighbor

 

[vtcnc]

Good to hear that there was no major damage to your property

You could bring it to the attention of the local fire marshal and the police department.
Make formal complaints with photos. You can’t have too many cameras. I have 10

Hope you can resolve the problem and still have a good relationship with your neighbor

I'd send everything to the local authorities. This neighbor doesn't appear to care about themselves or their kids let alone you, your wife or your shop.

 

[Braeden P]

How old are these kids! I bet their parents tell them to and reward them in some way what makes someone do that! Your local authorities might not help long story short my dads work truck was stolen crashed into a gun-store they did barely anything the person who was investigating went on vacation and nothing happened we heard nothing back from them.

 

[SLK001]

Of course, had you let the fire burn (and used the water hose to keep your shed safe), the neighbors would have been burned out and they would no longer be a problem.

 

[Flyinfool]

Arson is serious, especially if the parents condone it. I would get the local police involved. Once the kids actions start hitting the parents in the wallet they will have more interest in controlling their kids.

You already tried to be nice and that did not work.

 

[rabler]

Another option in addition to the police is to contact whatever the Washington state’s version of child and family services. They can press various legal penalties against the parents for these type of things. Doing this can be even nastier than filing police reports, as family services can press for fostering the children

Unfortunately, the only real way to win this is to move away. Anything you do is just likely, at least in the short run, to cause more incidents.

 

[alloy]

My wife thinks the boy is around 8 or so, the girl is probably 5-6. We are thankful it rained yesterday. If not it would have been all over. No way to control it with our hose.

As an afterthought I kinda wished there had been more damage to their structures. Maybe that would have been a wake-up call to them. But my wife did the right thing and put the fire out. If I were them I'd buy my wife something really nice for her quick thinking and actions. I'm going to take her out to a very special lunch tomorrow (yes I know it's mothers day also) but I want to treat her to something special. She's just wonderful. Works her butt off and takes good care of me and our home.

We have discussed turning them in, but as rabler said we can't win this. It will escalate into something more serious. I'm not going to move. I worked years to buy this place and get a shop. I'm not going to let the ******** neighbors run us off.

This brings back how I felt seeing the pics on here from the california fires and the devistation it caused and how it affected peoples lives.. I didn't think I coud be threatened with something like that, but apparently I can. And fire season is just about to ramp up again.

 

[Ken from ontario]

I also think escalating the bad situation is not in your best interest in the long run, I do believe the neighbors must already feel defensive about the whole ordeal .