Three teens arrested in Katy home arsons

Ah, summer. Houstonist remembers the days when we actually got three months off from school to do whatever we wanted — usually watching a lot of TV, sleeping till 1 p.m., bumming around Galveston and pretending it had nice beaches. But we never remember setting fires like three teens in Katy are accused of doing. Police arrested the trio early Sunday morning as they left a nearly completed home in the 2100 block of Castle Gardens Lane. How'd the cops know the kids were the arsonists? As the teens fled the scene, the house was smoking behind them. Yep, smart move.

The three are suspected in at least six fires in the past three months in the Castle Rock subdivision. At first, police thought the fires at homes under construction might be a form of eco-terrorism — you know, burning new houses to protest suburban sprawl. But in fact, it was nothing more than a case of the summer blahs: "These guys aren't that intelligent. It was pretty much strictly boredom," Dustin Deutsch of the Harris County Fire Marshal's office told the Chronicle.

The fires were set with lighter fluid and gasoline, arson investigators said, and they caused more than $1 million in damage. The kids admitted torching four of the homes and have been charged with felony arson. We're sure they'll find the county justice system a fun way to pass the rest of their summer.