Neighbor kid sets fire to my tree-I pulled it out

[RonR]

My neighbor's kid, who is a good kid, but goes a lot nuts with shooting fireworks (my guess illegal ones- but that's another story) was shooting stuff off Sat PM. We were inside the house cooling off when the doorbell rings. Josh and his buddy were at the door.

His Mom was standing at one of our small decorative pine trees with her hose, strung from across the street, and his Dad was doucing the obviously scorched tree with my garden hose.

Josh apologized, said a rocket took off horizontal instead of up and the tree just exploded in flames. I was mostly mad for all the stuff he's been shooting all hours of the day and night. I (politely as I could) asked the might want to take all his stuff and go out to the country where his grandmother lives and fire the rest of it OUT THERE. We all have shake shingles in our neighborhood and I told him I was glad it was just the tree and not the roof, which I was really worried about!

I didn't see them shoot anymore stuff here, except firecrackers.

LUCKILY, just last week, my wife said that tree was getting too big for the space and she wanted to take it out this fall and replace it with something else...........

So today, I soaked the roots with a homemade watering wand, hooked the loader around the tree with a chain, wiggled it a couple of times, and it popped right out.

We used the hose to rinse the dirt back into the hole, and dumped the carcus on the trailer heading to the dump.......

It was a good day to do Tractoring!

Ron

 

[Junkman]

So what type of tree does your wife want Josh to purchase for her???? That will help him to remember the lesson, and his parents should believe that he really has gotten off inexpensively. A house fire might have really raised heck with their family savings account..... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[RonR]

The Mom volunteered both "criminals" to help with the remove/replace. We didn't discuss purchase, but I'm sure they will offer.

We had previously invited them to BBQ Sunday, so the subject came up in a good way. I pointed out to the Mom that if Josh was shooting illegal stuff, and he caught a house on fire, the first thing their insurance agent would say is "Whoops, if he was shooting illegal stuff, let me know how this comes out, but we aren't involved since he was acting in an illegal manner."

I think it got her attention.......... Our shake roofs cost $10K to replace (we've all done it from hail damage)......

I really have more problem with the Dad, who's a nice guy, but he almost encourages the kid to do wild stuff...........

See ya,
Ron

 

[_RaT_]

They don't allow any fireworks in my area. It's been a real blessing. The dogs can be left home with no issues and best of all, it gives us a chance to go to someone else's place that still has fireworks. The meals are prepared, we talk, we watch and can come home to a quiet home. By the way, we still have a few homes with shake here in California, but very few. I'll never have one again.

 

[RonR]

I'm writing to the city council to see if we can ban them also. The kicker is the city charges $5K per firework stand--this year, it gave them $50K to buy fireworks for the community shoot off.

My approach is going to see how much the city spends on police and fire for the week of the carnage--that's probably more than $50K. My point is ban the fireworks and use the $50K savings for the community shoot.

Its just gone plum nuts here........

Ron

 

[KirkMcD]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">(

We had previously invited them to BBQ Sunday, so the subject came up in a good way. I pointed out to the Mom that if Josh was shooting illegal stuff, and he caught a house on fire, the first thing their insurance agent would say is "Whoops, if he was shooting illegal stuff, let me know how this comes out, but we aren't involved since he was acting in an illegal manner."
)</font>

Your insurance still should cover you, but they would turn around and sue the neighbor for reimbursement.