Burning schools

[Tormod]

Now this is really something. Last night some teenagers set fire to my oldest daughter's school. Luckily her school comprises several small buildings rather than just a large one, but the arts and crafts rooms went up in smoke. We don't yet know if the library survived, nor do we know the status of a play center where the younger kids (including my daughter) stay after school hours.

Story in Norwegian with a pic and a video:
Politiet mener skolebrann er påsatt

The school is empty due to summer break but I just find it so incredibly *ignorant* to burn down schools...especially in your own neighborhood!

I'm on vacation so I didn't see the fire, but my wife called me and told me there had been like 10 fire trucks plus police and ambulances etc...

[Mercedes Benzene]

Wow. That's really unbelievable.

I don't understand why anyone would do this....
You'd have to be really crazy.

Well, best of luck to your daughter. Give us some updates (Will the school be ready for next school year?) occasionally.

[Boerseun]

Sheesh... bloody idiots.

Was it only partial, or destroyed? Do they know what their motives were? If it was to actually destroy the school, then that should be punished harshly. But then again, kids like to try new things, so if they only lit a cigarette (for instance - kids do tend to try out stuff) then it might have been a simple accident, a matter of 'boys will be boys', I guess.

[Qfwfq]

Boys will be boys, yeah, and sometimes they'll get up to some serious mischeive. Especially if they don't like going to school. Makes no sense to burn the building, unless they hope it will postpone the start of school...

A few years back a couple of young vandals set fire to quite a few vehicles around town, including one in a private parking place at the ground floor of the condo I dwell in, between some columns and underneath one apartment which got fully roasted and soon would have caught fire for real. It wasn't a pleasant thing to wake up to at 4:00 AM.

By the time the firemen were called and arrived, the next car was fully ablaze and the third was getting scorched; before they could get the first two completely extinguished we all had to pitch in and tug ropes to drag them out. A few streets away the boys were seen, with their canister of petrol, just after having lit a car, they were chased but not caught.

[Tormod]

Originally Posted by Mercedes Benzene

Well, best of luck to your daughter. Give us some updates (Will the school be ready for next school year?) occasionally.

It should be ready since no homerooms were ruined. But the school is cramped for space as it is so it's going to be a long winter, especially if the library is ruined.

Originally Posted by Boerseun

Was it only partial, or destroyed?

From what I have been able to gather so far, about 50-60% of the building (it's a one-story building) was completely ruined but I have no idea yet what the impact on the rest of it was.

Do they know what their motives were?...(for instance - kids do tend to try out stuff) then it might have been a simple accident, a matter of 'boys will be boys', I guess.

No, I don't even think they have caught the perps yet, but eyewitnesses saw teenagers setting a trash can or something next to the building on fire. The school fire might be accidental but teenagers should be able to think about such things...

Originally Posted by Qfwfq

Makes no sense to burn the building, unless they hope it will postpone the start of school...

The best they could hope for by burning it would be to transfer to a different school that is faaaaar longer to travel to.

A few years back a couple of young vandals set fire to quite a few vehicles around town

That's insane. In a *residential* area? That's asking for a murder charge IMHO...

[C1ay]

I'd love to know how these boys feel about this 10 or 20 years from now when they have their own children to send to school...

[Qfwfq]

Originally Posted by Tormod

The best they could hope for by burning it would be to transfer to a different school that is faaaaar longer to travel to.

Yeah, that's what kids get for futile attempts toward some silly aim...

Certainly there was the risk of someone in my condo, in the apartment right above the cars, getting smoked unconscious before waking up. Some got mildly hurt stampeding down the stairways, which woke me up, and the last of us came down holding our breath in the thick smoke. The other vehicles were out in the streets and at that time of night the risk of passers by getting hurt was low, people just called the fire dept. when they saw the blazes.

[Buffy]

Originally Posted by C1ay

I'd love to know how these boys feel about this 10 or 20 years from now when they have their own children to send to school...

Somehow, I doubt they're going to care. Don't you wonder where all those absentee fathers come from?

Entitlement and a society that thinks "its own" are "more equal than others" will let you mentally survive a pile of bad karma...oh well...

That's bulls*&%. You're a white suburban punk just like me,
Buffy

[Tormod]

Originally Posted by Buffy

Somehow, I doubt they're going to care. Don't you wonder where all those absentee fathers come from?

Well how do you repo a school...

[Buffy]

Originally Posted by Tormod

Well how do you repo a school...

Thank goodness for the new morality:

Good evening, Otto. This is Agent Rogersz. I'm going to ask you a few questions. Since time is short and you may lie, I'm going to have to torture you. But I want you to know, it isn't personal.

Let's go get sushi, and not pay,
Buffy