I'm a proud graduate!

*Looks at sokeri's scorched backyard*

Jeebus. Only forty five minutes?

Kids these days!

Let the kid teach the course.
He's special.

Daddy didn't care where I was and left me in the parking lot, so I set fire to a van. Now he always wants to know where I am.

Obligatory ...

I'm the trouble starter, farkin instigator.
I'm the fear addicted, danger illustrated.

I'm a firestarter, twisted firestarter.
You're the firestarter, twisted firestarter.
I'm a firestarter, twisted firestarter.

I'm the biatch you hated, filth infatuated.
Yeah. I'm the pain you tasted, fell intoxicated.

I'm a firestarter, twisted firestarter.
You're the firestarter, twisted firestarter.

I'm the self inflicted, mind detonator.
Yeah. I'm the one infected, twisted animator.

I'm a firestarter, twisted firestarter.
You're the firestarter, twisted firestarter.
I'm a firestarter, twisted firestarter... starter... starter...
Starter...

"We're going to get the kid into a juvenile fire setter program," said the fire chief

Why? He seems to have it figured out.

Dumbass kid. He shoulda been showerin' his seed in college girls' hair.
What is he, eight?

Was it this kid?

Did he start the fire with his mind? "No", you say. Poser.

"Now, Bart. Let's not get into 'who forgot to pick up who'...."

"It's one of those things where kids dumbass fathers do things without thinking," he said.

H.W. Plainview?

Damn... He used a lighter. If a 9 year old had managed to do that without a lighter I'd say "give him a scholarship".

One more parent leaving their demon seed in the car and we got ourselves a trifecta!

/Yah-hoo

We're going to get the kid into a juvenile fire setter program

Yeah, he's already passed that, he's ready for the big league

"We don't need no water, let the motherfarker burn!"

"I was just playing with the lighter," the boy said, standing next to his father's car. "I thought it was going to explode," said the boy, in a barely audible voice.

Santa Rosa resident Lyle Barrow was among those who saw the boy pacing in the parking lot about 45 minutes before the fire started. Barrow had been in his car waiting for friends.

Subby fails.

Father doesn't seem like the badguy here.

/grow up kid
//father will pay

approves

LordJiro: "We're going to get the kid into a juvenile fire setter program," said the fire chief

Why? He seems to have it figured out.

He showed great promise. If left untrained, he'll never live up to his true fire starting potential!

waaah, I can't entertain myself for 45 minutes! I better start setting shiat on fire!

BigEd: Daddy didn't care where I was and left me in the parking lot, so I set fire to a van. Now he always wants to know where I am.

However, this is true.

And for the record, I'm pretty sure I waited longer than that for one or the other of my parents when I was a kid. I never burned anything while I waited.

...I burned lots of things at other times, but never because I had to wait.

/the army men, watch them burn!

He's going to grow up to be a sociopath.

/am I really the first to think of that?

themindiswatching: He's going to grow up to be a sociopath.

/am I really the first to think of that?

I beat ya to it, Beavis and Butthead were classic sociopaths.

"He looked angry," said Barrow, "It was really weird. He had a mean look in his eye."

Kid needs to be watched. he's one of them! THEM

/Sorry, just got done reading The Mephisto Club

I seem to recall sitting in the car for up to an hour (had the keys, AC was on) while my mom shopped. Wasn't a big deal.

pissed off or bored?

should have locked the kid in the truck

Bucky Katt: should have locked the kid in the truck

That's for 8 year olds. Get with the program!

The kid had to be putting some real effort into igniting the van. You can't just walk up to your average soccer-mom mobile, flick a Bic and watch it go up in flames.
There were witnesses, why didn't they stop the brat before he became a junior class arsonist?

What was a 9-year-old doing with a lighter?
He uses it to light his cigarettes.

What did he heat up with the lighter to get a fire going on the van? There aren't a lot of flammable things sticking out of the front of a van.

Heh, I know that place. Corner of College and Mendo. It's like a Denny's. Places like that make me want to set things on fire as well.

dillenger69: Obligatory ...

I'm the trouble starter, farkin instigator.
I'm the fear addicted, danger illustrated.

I'm a firestarter, twisted firestarter.
You're the firestarter, twisted firestarter.
I'm a firestarter, twisted firestarter.

I'm the biatch you hated, filth infatuated.
Yeah. I'm the pain you tasted, fell intoxicated.

I'm a firestarter, twisted firestarter.
You're the firestarter, twisted firestarter.

I'm the self inflicted, mind detonator.
Yeah. I'm the one infected, twisted animator.

I'm a firestarter, twisted firestarter.
You're the firestarter, twisted firestarter.
I'm a firestarter, twisted firestarter... starter... starter...
Starter...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28ow4TLMTqM

vaconex: Subby fails.

Father doesn't seem like the badguy here.

He left his nine-year-old son alone for 45 minutes in the parking lot of a diner with access to a lighter so he could go have a cup of coffee and then only says, "It's one of those things where kids do things without thinking", and you call the subby a failure and the father OK?

I think the author of the article wants to be a mystery novelist. And a bad one.

Not enough info to diss the father as a bad guy. Did he tell the kid to wait in the car? Was this a busy area? Was this kid previously well behaved or was he a juvenile delinquent in training? I'm not saying the dad's a good parent, but he may very well be your average Joe Normal dad.

When I was that kids age, I would much rather have wandered around than sit in a cafe with my parents. Your average nine year old should be able to wait unattended for 45 minutes without setting fires.

I'll put my money on the kid being the dumbass, rather than the father. Kids do some amazing dumbass things without thinking about the possible consequences. I tried to start a forest fire when I was 10 - I wanted to see one up close. It never occurred to me it might be dangerous to life or property. A 10 I ought to have known better, but I wasn't thinking. I was in full fledged dumbass mode that day. I was seriously damn lucky it didn't catch - it had rained the night before.

Pic of Father with son after said event:

go for the eyes boo

You say that a nine-year-old should be able to be left alone for 45 minutes and then prove in the next paragraph that, at 10, not even you should have been left alone.

I don't know about where you all live, but where I live, it's illegal to leave a child that age unattended. Why the fark didn't he bring the kid in and get him some fries or something while he had coffee with his friend?

FTFA - The boy's father said he didn't understand why his son was playing with the lighter. "It's one of those things where kids do things without thinking," he said.

Like a parent who leaves their kid in a farking car while said parent makes a 45 minute social call.

Never mind how old the kid is, Daddy leaving Junior in a REALLY boring situation while he was inside chatting with a pal over coffee just screams "thoughtless" and "stupid."

God forbid we should EVER leave our kids unattended for more than 10 minutes until they reach the age of 21...

The kid's 9, not a toddler. When I was around that age (9-12) my dad had errands to run on the way back home picking me up from various activities. I sat in the car and listened to music.

Maybe the fact that the kid started a fire (while "just playing with a lighter") says more about the dad's parenting skills than the fact that he left for 45 minutes.

I don't really care about kids being left alone for 45 minutes, but that he was left alone to PACE AROUND A PARKING LOT! is pretty damn bad.

I'd send him to the head of the class.

45 Minutes is a LONG time when you're 9, and fire is SO pretty.

Kevin5280: vaconex: Subby fails.

Father doesn't seem like the badguy here.

He left his nine-year-old son alone for 45 minutes in the parking lot of a diner with access to a lighter so he could go have a cup of coffee and then only says, "It's one of those things where kids do things without thinking", and you call the subby a failure and the father OK?

When I was 9 I often asked if I could go wait in the car while my parents finished up dinner with relatives. Sometimes I'd fall asleep in the car, and be there for more than an hour.
And around public places its not uncommon to find lighters, several times I've found nearly empty ones that still had just enough juice to light.

And from the way the story sounded, it seems like the kid is scared shiatless about it. Doesn't sound like he's gonna do that again.

A 9 year should be able to handle his shiat for 45 minutes.....jesus the fark must've been told he was special......

AussieFox:

Sometimes I'd fall asleep in the car, and be there for more than an hour. And around public places its not uncommon to find lighters, several times I've found nearly empty ones that still had just enough juice to light.

I don't know about today, but when I was a kid (which was not too long ago), I'd stay in the effing car and listen to music while my dad did his errands, even locking the doors when sketchy characters came walking up the sidewalk... not wander around the possibly-dangerous parking lots (or crime-ridden streets). Even if I did, I never would've picked up a lighter. Why not? Because I knew that fire was serious business, not something to play with. Why? Because my parents taught me well.

Don't mean to single you out by quoting you AF, but jeez... I thought I was coddled. Parents now really need to take more responsibility for raising their kids.

/Get the fark off my lawn
//I'm 26
///a liberal for personal responsibility = your head asplode?

LordJiro: "We're going to get the kid into a juvenile fire setter program," said the fire chief

Why? He seems to have it figured out.

My thought. Is the idea to help him learn to set quicker, more incendiary fires?

who in the fark cares?

Mom would leave me in the car for that long while food shopping, -mid 70's time frame.

/strangers do have the best candy.

Am I blind? I missed the part where it said he was alone for 45m.

That said, the kid has to go to juvie(program) for this it is real hard to set a car on fire just by throwing a lighter near it (even if it never shut off)