|
| Tuesday, February 21, 2006 |
| Firebug |
Shami's comment on Myo's blog reminded me of this.
Ata knows someone who set a fire in a national park. Ata worked with him for a time, and jokes about firestarting and not letting him play with matches were standard workplace fare. Eventually, he put Ata out of her curiosity by telling the whole story.
This particular chap enjoyed going for hikes. Adelaide has the driest summer climate of all Australian capital cities, and on this particular summer day the grass was brown and crispy. Our protagonist had stopped for a break when he spotted a little skink. Being of the type that can't leave well enough alone (ie - male), he decided to catch the skink. Skinks are tricky little critters, and after a few minutes fruitless chasing, it slipped into a clump of tall grass. Out of reach.
It was at this point our friend made his mistake. How to get skink out of grass-clump?
What would you do at this point? You can't get into the grass, so you take the next logical step.
You decide to smoke it out.
It took only a brief split second for the grass to ignite and the fire to spread. Our unfortunate firebug realised quickly that he was not going to be able to put it out, and hightailed it to the road. Out of immediate harm's way, he called the fire service. It took some time, but the blaze was controlled.
And the firebug? Having turned himself in, he got a fine that took over a year to pay off. There might have been some community service involved as well, I don't remember. And enough ribbing from workmates to make him think twice about playing with matches ever again. |
posted by Ata @ 12:24 pm  |
|
| 4 Comments: |
-
Yeesh. It was very decent of him to own up to it though.
-
That's beyond stupid, really... but yes, good that he didn't just leg it and take no responsibility.
Totally unrelated, but I have to ask:
What is with all the tiny people clambering about various foodstuffs? I am bemused and baffled at once.
-
I just like 'em.
And really, it's probably more interesting than a slideshow of Roswell and Bosco pictures.
Ooh! Look! New ones! Sunbathers on icecream!
-
Hee. Yes, they are kind of cute and oddly fascinating, actually.
|
| |
| << Home |
| |
|
|
|
|
Yeesh. It was very decent of him to own up to it though.