Make them apologize. Community service. Their parents must pay.
Opinions were varied on Global Okanagan’s Facebook page regarding the two youths who started a fire in the Glenmore area of Kelowna on Friday afternoon. The fire, which burned four hectares and involved 30 firefighters and five aircraft, is contained, but not before 933 properties were put on evacuation alert.
“The fire is human caused,” Tim Light of the Kelowna Fire Department said on Friday. “We have two minor individuals that have admitted to finding a lighter and lighting a small fire, but stomping it out. And, unfortunately, I guess they didn’t stomp it out enough.”
Shortly after news broke of how the fire was started, it was reported on Global Okanagan’s Facebook page. Public opinion started pouring in.
Before sampling some of those comments, though, the Kelowna Fire Department gave an update of the fire.
“Basically, we are in the mop-up stage right now. It’s a heavy mop-up. We have lots of work to do up there still,” said KFD incident commander John Kelly. “We have about 16 pairs of boots on the ground and four pieces of apparatus that are still working the fire.
“The perimeter is secure, so we’re confident that we’ve got this.”
Kelly added that Friday “was hectic, of course, with everything going on. Last night, because of the difficult terrain, crews weren’t able to get a whole lot of mop-up done. It’s kind of dangerous at night when it’s really dark, and, like I said, the terrain is quite steep and rocky and (has) shale.
“The perimeter was monitored last night to make sure there was nothing that crossed and we didn’t have any issues.”
The evacuation alert is still place as a precaution, but Kelly noted that “people can be confident that there are no issues.”
Regarding how the fire started, Kelly said “it wasn’t a malicious act. Resources get tied up. That’s just the way it is. We have to deal with the call at hand.”
Fire crews will be attending the scene all day and throughout the night, with a re-assessment taking place Sunday morning.
Now, about those comments. Below are seven random opinions. The Global Okanagan Facebook page can be found here.
- “I think it took a lot of guts for those kids to fess up and show where the fire started. I agree they should be held responsible, maybe doing clean up of dust and soot and retardant on the affected homes?”
- “How about criminal charges. Pay back taxpayers dollars. Youth or not they should be financially responsible if it takes years.”
- “WTH is wrong with people? These are children. It’s all about money, there is no more caring for the people. So sad.”
- “These kids need to do community service to pay for their mistakes, making parents completely responsible is not going to teach them a thing. This world has gone crazy.”
- “Tally the cost of fighting this fire & recoup a percentage from parents. As well, show the kids any wildlife that suffered & died because of that fire. Add on community service appropriate to their ages. They need to understand the consequences of their actions. At least they need a little credit for finding the courage to fessing up.”
- “Parents must be held responsible.”
- “Very, very sad.”
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