Real Life: “I caused a fire with my cigarette”

Esther (22) dares not tell anyone that it was her fault. And it only happened because she had to smoke so badly…

“I was on vacation at my parents’ house in Spain. They have had a house there for years, on a hill overlooking a valley. Beautiful. And dry. The summers are so hot that it’s still above thirty degrees at night. Last summer, my parents were in the Netherlands to escape the heat, and I went with two friends to their house. A bit of sunbathing, swimming, and going out in the evenings. That kind of thing.

One evening it was so incredibly hot that I couldn’t sleep, no matter what I tried. I turned to the left, to the right, lay down near the fan: nothing worked.

At one point, I went to sit on the balcony. A can of diet cola from the fridge and a cigarette would be my best friends for the next quarter of an hour. I took sips and puffs and looked at the starry sky.

What happened, I don’t know exactly, and I’m not sure if it was because of me, but I flicked my cigarette away with my index finger, just like I often do in the Netherlands. But without putting it out first. After that, I lay down in my bed and somehow managed to fall asleep.

A few hours later, we woke up to sirens and a firefighting plane. There was a huge fire in the valley. We were safe. The fire had just started below our house, and the wind was blowing in the right direction for us. Moreover, our entire house is completely surrounded by stone walls. The fire department came to ask us questions. If we had seen anything or could explain anything. I couldn’t, I didn’t dare. I said that I was sleeping and only woke up from all the noise they were making.

And now I am so afraid that they will find out anyway. On my phone, you can see that I was active just before the fire started. I am so stressed that it hurts in my stomach. Fortunately, everyone was evacuated in time and there were no casualties, but the costs are enormous. I keep struggling with the question of whether I should tell it or suppress it. Because this is definitely very bad for my heart.”