If there’s one universal rule that everyone should listen to, it’s ‘Don’t play with fire,’ metaphorically and literally. One couple in Rhode Island didn’t seem to have taught that important lesson to their young daughter, as she almost successfully burned down her neighbor’s house, “intentionally.” This horror story began when the mother in the house woke up to the sound of fire alarms. Her son was playing on his Switch in the living room, but his bedroom window had been starting to catch on fire.
After a frantic and luckily successful attempt to put out the flames, the mom had two visitors knocking at the door: the neighbor’s daughter and her aunt. The aunt claimed her niece had seen smoke rising from the house next door, so they both came to check in to see if everything was alright. Eventually, the fire department was called, and a group of first responders was investigating the damaged area where the house had been burned. Even though there were suspicions of the AC or electrical wire starting the fire, the fire chief and mother knew someone had caused the fire, not something.
Outside the son’s bedroom window was a small pile of burnt debris, where it was clear someone was setting trash and items on fire with a lighter. The neighbor is a smoker, and the neighbor’s daughter was very unnaturally distraught the entire time the firefighters were asking questions. It didn’t take long for the mom to put two and two together and realize it was the daughter’s doing. When asked, however, the young girl lied, saying she didn’t do it. But it was clear to the mom and all the evidence before her that it was indeed the neighbor’s daughter. This wasn’t the first time the girl had lied before, but her family trusts her word, so everyone left without pinning the fire on a culprit.
Annoyed that neither the girl nor the neighbors took responsibility, the mom took to Reddit to vent her frustration about how the situation could have been so much worse. “I’m super p*ssed with how my neighbors handling it,” she exclaimed. “I feel like if your kid lies to the fire department, police, fire marshals, and forensic investigators, you got a bit of an issue.” Based on the explanation, the comment section was filled with people both supporting her but also warning her about the neighbor’s daughter.
Many strongly recommend having fire extinguishers on standby and placing multiple cameras near the son’s window. “I can almost assure you she’s going to do it again,” one person remarked. “That little sh*t is playing with YOUR lives.” Another chimed in, saying, “So a kid tried to burn your house down? Press charges.” A third added that everyone probably knows the girl did it, but “maybe the parents were scared they’d get a ticket or sued if the daughter was found to have intentionally set fire to the residence.”
It’s possible the girl set fire to objects beside her neighbor’s house without knowing the full consequences of what could happen. However, that doesn’t make her any less of a danger and threat to the mother, her son, or even the whole neighborhood. Hopefully, the girl’s parents learn to straighten out her lying behavior and teach her that fire is not a toy.
