I could smell something burning...

It is 2.45 am here in Eltham. About an hour ago, I thought I could smell something burning - just enough to make my nose twitch in suspicion. But as it is quite cool tonight, I figured one of the neighbours had probably lit an open fire, or it might have been a barbecue, so I didn't move from my desk. A bit later, Ken came looking for Topsy, to put her to bed. She often hides under the quilt on the spare bed in the front bedroom, and sure enough, that is where he found her. Next thing I heard him yell "Simon's letterbox is on fire!" and he shot out the front and downstairs to see if anyone else had noticed it. Simon is a neighbour across the road and up one house, and their large wooden letterbox had already been set on fire once before by vandals, a few months ago.

While Ken was over the road looking for Simon's hose, I called the police, who sent a van around, as well as the local fire brigade. Someone driving past had stopped, and gone to wake up poor Simon, who at that hour of the morning (2.30 am approx), like most sensible people was in bed asleep. Our street is heavily treed, and Simon's house is no exception. The tree overhanging his letterbox was singed, and if nobody had seen the fire, it is quite possible the trees would have caught fire, and it could then have spread to the house. If it happened in summer on a hot windy night, the consequences would be devastating.

This weekend is the time of the annual Eltham Festival. There are the usual festivities and stalls in the park, plant show in the hall, fireworks display last night, etc. And, as always on the Saturday night, there are always kids who have too much to drink/smoke/inject/whatever, and the community has to put up with the results. Simon is married with two young children under 5, and his wife is understandably very distressed by tonight's events. They have no idea who would be doing this deliberately, twice in a matter of months. I would like to set up a webcam or something, with a view over our part of our street, just to film these hooligans when they get up to their mischief. My imagination goes into overdrive at the thought of what I would like to do if I caught them...