The Adventures of Dan and the Gang - Forest Fire

My dad and his friends were rather naughty, sometimes having firecracker wars in the woods. This was done by simply dividing into two teams, lighting firecrackers, and throwing them at each other. I have no clue what went through their little heads, but apparently this was "fun"!

On one occassion, my father had a brilliant idea. Instead of having to light each one individually, when not just create a little fire on the ground so the firecrackers could be lit quickly? This proved revolutionary to our little band of junior highers, and soon the other team had their own fire going as well.

The war was raging between the two teams when suddenly they realized that the fires were spreading! Brush had caught and was now moving quickly. Fear of the fire seized them first, quickly followed by fear of what the parents would do. Each little boy ran home in a frenzy, desperately hoping he wouldn't be caught.

"Mom! Mom!" Dan cried to my grandma. She turned. "We... we saw these guys in the woods! They were lighting firecrackers and they started a forest fire!"

The fire department was called, the fire put out. Yet to this day, no one knows that it was not a group of teens, but rather a group of rambunctious junior highers: Dan and the Gang.