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[side_show]

We have issues with arson in our neighbourhood.

My SO put out a small fire on a neighbour's fence a few months ago, and shortly after that the near-by curling rink burnt to the ground.

As I was sitting here reading your posts tonight, I started to hear some odd noises out my window.  I was worried that I was hearing the noises of someone breaking into either my car or my SO's car, so I continued to peak out the window every few minutes.  Then, lo and behold, I see that our neighbour's garbage bin was up in flames.  I shouted at my SO to go grab the hose and I grabbed a bucket and another neighbour appeared and up ended the entire bin.  Soon there was soggy half burnt garbage all over our backlane.  Since one of our neighbours saw the person who set the fire and took off after this person, I came back in and gave the non-emergency police line a call.  Soon enough, firemen arrived and left, then the police arrived and left.  Aparently there was another fire just down the street as well.  Our shirtless across the lane neighbour thanked us for taking care of it.

What I worry about on a fairly regular basis is the abandoned house next door.  It is an old wood frame, and would go up very nicely.  Scary.

It makes the whole stray kitty issue seem not so important.

[AugustWest]

Not the CURLING RINK!!!

That sucks Smells.  Sounds like punk kids to me.  Are the police aware of your concerns?  You should also let the Fire Department know and the Building Code/Permitting people know.  If the building is a fire hazard the Fire Department may be able to make the owner take steps to either make it safer or tear it down.

[pmcd9]

That is a big concern of mine.  I assume your property is insured, however having your shit burn up would indeed suck, you probably would'nt get enough money in your settlement, plus being put out of your home for even one day is a major pain in the ass.  But it's the stuff that can't be replaced that would make me sad.  Hopefully it's just punk kids as August suggested and they'll be caught before they does some serious damage or maybe they'll just grow up and stop doing stupid shit like setting the trash bin on fire.  At any rate, maybe you should invest in an extra link of water hose in case that old wood frame goes up you can take matters into your own hand and mitigate the damage and maybe prevent it from spreading to your place while you wait for the FD to respond.

~Paul

[side_show]

See, here is my quandary:  The house next door is abandoned, and there is only about a 6 ft space between our house and this abandoned house.  The house next to it is occupied by the most awful family, who - in the three times I have met them- have gone out of their way to let me know exactly why they wish my house hadn't been built, why we shouldn't live where we live, etc, and who communicate almost entirely by screaming.  Seriously.  The wife is in the back yard, the husband is in the front and they have entire coversations via screaming.  Then one of them goes in the house and they continue to converse through screaming.  A couple weeks ago they were screaming more intensely about how awful their oldest son is, and although they both clearly agreed that they no longer want him to stay there anymore, they continued to scream as they conversed about it.  Then the son came by and the two of them screamed at him, and he screamed back that he didn't want to stay there anymore anyway.  Earlier, their younger son screamed about touching a bug, I must have heard "Ew!  Gross!  Ew! Gross!" about 200 times, and their daughter screamed about their younger son not playing the game they were playing by the rules.  I think of the abandoned house as a nice buffer zone, and can't imagine what I would do if I had to live without a house between us.  I would probably talk to them in a nice quite tone, and they would get so confused their brains would explode.  While I dream of calling the city, having the house knocked down, buying the lot and building a beautiful sun room and giant garden, I also know that the people on the other side are basically the worst neighbours ever.

[V-Adore]

I'd talk to the authorities about it, nonetheless; the solution may not be "bulldoze it," but they need to be alerted before something really goes up. After all, if you've noticed the incendiary potential of the house, how long is it going to take an arsonist?

[side_show]

I'd talk to the authorities about it, nonetheless; the solution may not be "bulldoze it," but they need to be alerted before something really goes up. After all, if you've noticed the incendiary potential of the house, how long is it going to take an arsonist?

What?!  No!  I am smarter than those dumb fucks!  I am!  I am.  I am?  Ahh shit.  You're right.

[AlohaDawg]

See, the thing is, there's a couple kinds of arsonists.

Stupid kids with too much time on their hands

and psychopathic sociopaths.

The problem is they are both suffering from a disregard for property and safety and an inability to understand the outcome of their action.

As long as you live in that neighborhood and the guy is running around doing it, you, your SO, and your property are in real danger.

Round up your responsible neighbors, organize, and get representatives from local law enforcement and the fire dept to come to your meeting. Discuss the problem and develop something like a neighborhood watch. Get everyone on a higher level of awareness of strange activity, people that don't belong there, and things that are amiss.

[jough]

Yes, AD is right.  Vigilante justice is really the only way to deal with these punks.

[AlohaDawg]

Snarky sarcasm aside, there is a pretty huge difference between a vigilant community which looks out for each other's interests and armed bands of vigilantes. This is an important reason why you invite the police to your meeting.

Here's some info

[jough]

So the torches and pitchforks aren't such a good idea?

[wombat]

So the torches and pitchforks aren't such a good idea?

No, no, the torches are exactly what she doesn't want!

[Ben-San]

Pitchforks and fire extinguishers, then.

[AlohaDawg]

Pitchforks and fire extinguishers, then.

Well DUH.

[jough]

So do you have an idea of who it is, only the police don't have enough evidence?

[side_show]

No, I basically have no clue who's doing it, all I do know is that there are two worrysome contingents - bored looking teens (there's a particular group who are always loafing around in the street or in the park at the end of the street (6 houses down) and who my SO prevented me from killing in a rage when I witnessed them throwing a cat at each other/the side walk with the force someone would normally save for slam dunking a basketball) and indigent huffers/alcoholics (There is a pair of three people who I see almost daily eating from the garbage, drinking Listerine and huffing model glue). 

As for the neighborhood watch thing, I couldn't agree with you more.  Remember when I mentioned a year ago that there was a serious stray cat problem in our neighborhood?  And that I was going to start a neighborhood watch to deal with the issue?  (Even though the stray cats are the least of our problems right now they are still a problem.)  I did look into it, and there is no current organization for neighborhood crime prevention, and the police and neighborhood association were all about me putting one together. I have to be honest that I find some of the issues pretty terrifying - there's at least three gangs compeating for turf as far as the graffiti advertises, there's prostitution about two blocks from my house, and there's definitely drug issues.  With all my health stuff, I definitely don't have the energy to spearhead what would be a major initiative.  I'd normally be the trailblazer here, that's always been my M.O., but I have to admit that it's a lot more daunting - I could make the kind of enemies who want to hurt me or worse.  Not that I've let that hold me back before.  The real issue is that the work would basically be all consuming for whoever dared to take it on, and I'm barely up for simple physical health issues.  I just resigned from a very socially/artistically important and active position on a board to dedicate myself fully to my health...  I'm torn - there's a huge need for action, yet I don't have the fight in me right now.  Give me another year...

Basically, downtown Winnipeg is in crisis.  My SO and I were recently laughing at the recent ad campaign which uses the catch phrase "It's Your Downtown" which we translate into "It's Your Problem."  Just look at the accusatory tone of the "Top 10 Reasons It’s Your Downtown, Winnipeggers!" - it's a bizarre list that makes the downtown sound like shit while subtly blaming the citizenry.  My favorite is "If you don’t like downtown, you have the power to change it. Quit complaining, get off your butt and do something about it."  Okay, so I built a house downtown on an abandoned lot, I live downtown, work downtown... what more would you like me to do?  Oh right... I need to police my own neighborhood and put out fires.  No problem.