Man Trying To 'Smoke Out' Squirrels Sets His Townhouse On Fire

A man in suburban Richton Park set his house and part of his neighbor's house on fire Tuesday when he lit a smoke bomb in an attempt to prevent squirrels from entering his home.

Resident Robert Hughes was tired of hearing squirrels run around inside his walls, so he decided to smoke them out, WLS reports. Hughs set off a "rodent smoke bomb" in the gutter of his home, hoping the squirrels would run out of the hole that allowed them access to his walls. Unfortunately, the plan backfired.

The SouthtownStar reports:

The townhome caught fire after Hughes lit a smoke bomb in a gutter near the hole the squirrels used to access his home. No one was injured, but Hughes' unit and a neighbor's in the building in the 3000 block of Euclid Court were badly damaged.

...

Windows from the home were broken, the screens were torn off the frames, and there was rubble inside both residences. Hughes' unit also had visible fire damage running up the side of the building to the second floor.

Both Hughes' family and the 77-year-old woman living next door have been forced to find alternative housing, since the blaze left their homes uninhabitable for now.

"I've lived here about 30 years, and there's a lot of things inside that I cherish, and now I know those are things I can't get out," Hughes' neighbor told the SouthtownStar, adding that she was "frustrated" by the incident.

The Richton Park fire chief told the Tribune he did not see any squirrels on the scene.

Comments

[crookedcountyillinois]

02:40 PM on 03/17/2011

He got exactly what he deserved. I love it when justice is self-serving.

[local21]

07:20 AM on 03/17/2011

I could picture the squirrels on a tree limb laughing their arses off as the fire dept is putting out the fire.

[mphalen]

12:09 AM on 03/17/2011

Now that's what I call American ingenuity.

[ksun1]

08:21 PM on 03/16/2011

Squirrels are not so cute when they invade your attic, build a nest, have babies and run through your walls all night. This happened in my former neighborhood of townhouses; and the neighbor across the street fired a gun into his wall in a futile attempt to shoot the squirrels. We had to hire a trapper to set humane traps, catch the entire squirrel family and transport them to the woods. In the interim, we repeatedly nailed tin and wire mesh patches over the holes the squirrels would saw into the buildings; but the determined squirrels would cut through metal and re-enter our attics, where they stored the food they scavenged outdoors. Pest control experts asked all the neighbors to stop throwing out bread crumbs for the gulls to eat to try to cutoff the squirrels' readily-available food supply. We wasted our money buying red pepper spray to coat the paths the squirrels traveled and other useless deterrents. One so-called pest expert told us to stop cooking, as the smell of food attracted the squirrels. We even tried releasing bug bombs in our attics--not fireworks-type smoke bombs. The trapper baited the traps with peanut butter and caught them all--they were in no way harmed. My gun-toting neighbor was warned for firing a gun within city limits and told not to poison the squirrels, since some people still eat them! This guy should've consulted an expert.

[RighteousNotRightWing]

06:38 PM on 03/16/2011

Let's hope both had insurance. Although intentional fire may be excluded :-(

[missmary]

05:34 PM on 03/16/2011

Serves him right for trying to harm those cute little squirrels.

[JerseyExit4]

05:19 PM on 03/16/2011

Meanwhile, the tree that the squirrels were living in was left untouched by the fire....

[Ramon Moreno]

07:15 PM on 03/16/2011

Sweet justice.

[JohnJames]

04:24 PM on 03/16/2011

Rule # 1 about squirrels - They always win.

[KKSSHOE]

04:15 PM on 03/16/2011

What a D*&K. putting a 77 year old on the street. Should have called pest control.

[Ramon Moreno]

07:17 PM on 03/16/2011

I've tried that. Pest Control won't help you with old people.

[Bellanova]

03:13 PM on 03/16/2011

"The Richton Park fire chief told the Tribune he did not see any squirrels on the scene."

A punchline of the week.

[Spock]

03:04 PM on 03/16/2011

Squirrels - 1
Man - 0