Blood is thicker than water, as they say.
But is it thicker than a family member setting your bathroom on fire?
That’s the dilemma a 32-year-old Redditor, who goes by the name aitathrowawayfire, took to the AITA (Am I The A**hole) subReddit.
As she put it to her fellow Redditors:
“AITA for asking my brother’s entire family to move out because my nephew set my bathroom on fire for a TikTok?”
The Original Poster (OP) explained:
“My brother (43), his wife (40), and their two kids (9 Female and 15 Male) have been staying with me for a little over two weeks now because they lost their jobs due to [the pandemic] and were evicted.”
“Four people is obviously a large addition, but I didn’t want them to be homeless and they assured me it’d be a temporary stay.”
“Two days ago, my nephew set my bathroom on fire for a tiktok. From what he told me after, there’s some kind of trend where you draw a shape on your mirror with hairspray and then you light it on fire, and it’s supposed to go out on it’s own without any damage.”
“Well, his fire spread onto a nearby stack of towels and got out of control. We all had to evacuate, but luckily I live relatively close to a firestation so the damage wasn’t that bad.”
“My guest bathroom is scorched and will need repairs, but the rest of my home is okay.”
“I think that my brother and SIL had to have been wildly negligible to allow this to happen, especially considering the lighter he used was my brother’s, meaning he must have taken it from him at some point.”
“I’m asking them to leave within the next week because I don’t want to risk something of this nature happening again.”
“They’ve apologized and asked me to reconsider because it was an accident, no one was hurt in the end, they’d be homeless if I kicked them out now, and to think of my niece who did nothing.”
“I’m not going to charge them for the repairs because they flat out can’t afford it, but I no longer feel safe living with them.”
OP’s fellow Redditors were then asked to determine who’s in the wrong in this situation, based on the following acronyms:
- NTA – Not The A**hole
- YTA – You’re The A**hole
- ESH – Everyone Sucks Here
- NAH – No A**holes Here
And as you might guess, the general consensus seemed to be setting fire to someone’s house for a TikTok is a deal-breaker.
“NTA. He lit your house on fire for an internet trend. He’s lucky he didn’t kill someone.”
“NTA you would have been homeless too if that fire burned down the house. Sounds like someone dangerous to have in the house. 😬” —lainmelle
“NTA if you don’t kick them out now, they very soon stop being houseguests and start becoming lodgers/tenants. That’s a legal can of worms you don’t want to go through to get someone terrifying out of your house.”
“And your nephew clearly needs the parenting of seeing actions have consequences. He didn’t do this in his own home; he did this to his host, which means he hasn’t learned to respect others’ belongings.” —Alternative_Year_340
“Seriously, this wasn’t an accident. If a 15 year old is stupid enough to intentionally set a fire, what else will they do?”
“OP is NTA to not want that liability in their house.” —sydneyunderfoot
“NTA you would have been homeless too if that fire burned down the house.” —Halfbaked801
“Not the a**hole”
“He not only endangered everyone in the house he damaged it for a stupid trend. I would hope his parents had taught him that fire is not a toy , you don’t play with it.”
“I would definitely put them out of my home and made them pay for the damages as well. It’s actually a good teaching experience for both parents and children play with fire and you get burned.” —NamiSinha
“…Really you don’t even need to read past the title for this one.” —SecuredCreditor
“If he’s going to be doing whatever the internet says and his parents aren’t going to pay attention then yes, he’s a huge safety hazard. It sucks for the innocent party (the niece), but unfortunately this is the way it has to be, for OP’s safety.”
“And as for the parents, they should consider themselves lucky no one got hurt and that OP isn’t going to be charging them for the repairs.” —Cyclonic2500
“How was it an accident? It was done deliberately.”
“NTA, kick them – there’s one less bathroom to accommodate them as well.” —starlareads
“The best bit was ‘it was an accident’. Accidently sprayed a shape on a mirror and lit it on fire for the internet.”
“Definitely sounds like an accident to me.” —TheMasalaKnight
“‘I no longer feel safe living with them’.”
“NTA. That’s the only reason you ever need. This isn’t a candle that got out of hand situation—insurance doesn’t cover intentional* dumbassery.”
“It wasn’t an accident and he could’ve killed someone. For a TikTok.” —FunkyOrangePenguin
“NTA-yeah the fact you aren’t going to charge them for damages is incredibly nice of you. I get they lost their place and that sucks.”
“But if they feel it’s ok to set fires for a video then they’ll do other stupid sh*t too.” —Plantmom-wineaunt
The moral of the story?
Don’t burn your bridges—or aunt’s bathrooms, as it were.