What is wrong with people?

We had some scary moments in our little neck of the woods, today. The fire department showed up early (10:00-ish, I guess?) and our cul-de-sac was soon buzzing with activity from the fire chief, chief battalion, and several police cars.

A little back story: We live in a town in Northern Virginia that has *0* crime. If you look at our local town police departments website, they maintain a weekly log of crime. It consists of a car broken into, someone parked illegally on the street (facing the wrong way), and things of the like. We have one apartment complex that is full of illegal immigrants, so that tends to be where most of the domestic violence and fight calls come from. Our neighborhood is comprised of three cul-de-sacs that have townhomes on them. The townhomes were built in the 1970's and are gigantic for homes nowadays. Our particular court is the quietest, with 19 homes in a "u" shape. On one side, there are two families (one with a set of identical twins!). On the base of the u, there are three families with children under the age of 4. On our side, there is us, our neighbor who has two small kids under the age of 3, another family with two boys under the age of 4, and another couple with a newborn. There is one house on the base of the u that has had a history of trouble. The guy that owns it is a real deadbeat. Long story short, on of my brothers worked for him over 10 years ago and finally left because the guy couldn't pay him and still owes him several thousand dollars. The guy doesn't live there, but rents it out, and has had all sorts of vagrants moving in and out. The house has been condemned, but somehow, he found someone to rent it for $500/mo. Needless to say, the homeowners here are not happy with him because the state of his home is causing the housing values to plummet. No one takes care of it. The basement is COVERED in black mold. It's disgusting. So, this sketchy guy moved in a few months ago with his dog. He seems nice enough, and a few of the neighbors like him, but I just don't get good vibes.

So, back to today.... The fire department was called because he arrived home from working and, when he opened his door, was overcome by the smell of natural gas. His dog didn't run to the door as he normally does. The guy had enough common sense (THANK GOD!) to put his cigarette down before entering the house. He *says* that he walked in and found that someone had come into his home and turned on all of the gas burners on his stove. (The dog is okay.)

The thought? The original thought was that the owner did it in an attempt to collect insurance money, hoping the house would explode.

THERE ARE CHILDREN IN THIS NEIGHBORHOOD! If this guy hadn't put his cigarette down before he went in, who's to say the house wouldn't have exploded and taken all of us with it? I'm overcome with fear at this point because whoever did this had no thought about the infants and children that surround the home. I'm overcome with fear for Heather, Billy and Peyton, who live next door to this guy. Their home is attached to his. The same with the family with a newborn and small child to his right. We're 30 feet from this house...

I'm terrified for the safety of my kids and the children that we play with everyday. We have formed strong bonds with these people and I just fear for them.