Last Friday I came home to what looked like — at first, anyway — some wind-blown containers scattered around my yard. But when I went to pick them up, I discovered some burn marks in my lawn and a circle of flammable material underneath the bedroom window, with some burn attempts there, as well. The trash piles weren’t random after all — instead, I had a serious arson attempt on my home.
I called the Portland Police non-emergency number, (503-823-3333) and I had several Police officers and Portland Fire show up. I know that Portland Police and Fire departments often don’t get positive recognition for what they do, every day, day in and day out. I’d like to say, they deserve it. Wholeheartedly.
An arson investigator was at my house, with a uniformed officer, until 12:30 a.m. getting samples and working the scene.
I’ll be honest. I was pretty frightened. Let me say that this was serious enough that arson investigators didn’t think it was just kids.
I spent most of the next week worried about every noise in the back yard. I was so jumpy, I had trouble concentrating and trouble staying focused. I worried every night before I went to sleep that I’d wake up to smoke and fire. I stayed off Twitter, not wanting to let anyone know where I was; if I was home or not. Even casual messages seemed to have too much detail. As much as I love Twitter, I was afraid of it.
This Friday, I came home early — only to find kids trying to create fires in my backyard. Again. I’m still shocked; the kids who did this and caused all this damage are six. Six years old.
Once again, Portland Police showed up and handled the scene and (this time) the kids.
The same officer who spent last Friday night with me saw the call come in and was the first one there, even though it wasn’t assigned to him. I won’t say more about the kids, they are minors, and hopefully in so much trouble they won’t see the outdoors for several months.
But, thank you, Portland Police, and the Portland Fire Arson Investigation Unit. You were wonderful, and I feel safe and happy to have you in my city. You deal with people every day on what is often their very worst day. That can’t be easy. And many times, you get recognized for something that goes wrong, not something that goes right. So here you go, and thank you.
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Wow. What a scary experience. Glad to know that you had a positive experience with the Police and Fire bureaus, since usually when we’re blogging about them it’s related to some sort of misconduct or alleged screw-up.
Oh, and I think you forgot a tag: #getoffmylawn
(too soon to laugh?)
Six?!? They were six? How does a six-year-old decide to set fire to someone’s house?
As a parent of a genuine troublemaker, I’ve sometimes been astonished at what my child has done, or at least thought she could get away with.
But ARSON??
#getoffmylawn indeed….
On the one hand I suppose it’s really frightening that it was 6-yr-olds, but on the other, I bet you are relieved that it wasn’t something more sinister/willful – either way, terribly scary. Glad it came to an end so quickly.
How scary on so many levels.
On that note, I can’t imagine letting my 6 year old out of my (or another parents if they were over at their house) sight for any period of time. Let alone wandering the neighborhood. They are 6 year old boys after all.
Forget about the kids. Lets go after the PARENTS!
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