Why People Using Illegal Fireworks Suck

So, after I wrote my last post describing the dessert I made for the 4th of July, I got ready for bed. This means going to find my cat to put her to bed. As I walk by my front door, I see flashing lights and open my door to see this:

I walk outside and to my left, almost directly across the street, I see that my neighbor's house is on fire!!! I run in and get my husband and he gets up to go talk to my neighbors. They are renters and they are all sitting outside. One of them happens to be an elderly lady who must be in her 80's. There are also a bunch of other people outside and 4 fire trucks. 

After talking to my neighbors, my husband comes back inside to tell me that they were all asleep and awakened by the smoke alarm. Apparently, the sparks, whatever, from an illegal firework landed on their roof and started the fire.  This is scary and makes me angry! We have a tile roof and never have I appreciated it more since it apparently lessens the risk that fires like this can happen. My husband tells me later that some of our other neighbors were watering down their roofs when the fireman were there. Ridiculous! No one should have to do that.

I don't get why people have to do the illegal stuff. There are plenty of places you can watch cool shows locally. Even the legal stuff is fun, though perhaps not as impressive. Now this poor family is out of a home, albeit temporarily since the owners are now having to put them up at a local hotel till everything is fixed. And, since I'm an owner of a rental locally, I wonder if I might get a call in the middle of the night telling me that my condo is on fire. I'm grateful everyone was safe and that their smoke alarm was working. 

The only good thing about the end of my 4th of July celebration is that both my children slept through the whole thing.