I honestly couldn't believe what happened today.
My neighbour decided it was a good time to have a bonfire in their back garden, despite us being in the middle of a severe drought.
There's a hosepipe ban in place, everything is tinder dry, and there's been plenty of advice about the fire risk.
They still lit the bonfire anyway.
It eventually got serious enough that the fire brigade had to attend.
I genuinely don't understand the thought process. It only takes one spark to spread to fences, hedges or neighbouring gardens, and it wasn't only their own property they were putting at risk, there is a school next door.
Has anyone else dealt with something similar? Would you report it as reckless behaviour, or would you leave it once the fire brigade had dealt with it?
If there is a fire ban and the Fire brigade came out in my area it would be a massive Fine up to 5,000 dollars.
I don't think there is a fire ban right now, but I'd be interested to know how they dealt with it.
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$5k not nearly enough of a fine.
In our area you can just call the fire department if someone has an outside fire and there is a fire ban. No reason to wait.
28,000 in Nova Scotia :D
I would hope that if there was a fire ban, the people would be charged for the costs of the fire brigade attending (they are in my county). A nice hefty fine might smarten them up. If not, call the fire brigade every time they start a fire.
Welcome to the cause of so many widespread fires.
💯 💯 💯 💯 💯
Egoism+stupidity
True that.
You can’t reason with some people though
Literally
Can't reason with stupid either.
related: just a couple weeks ago, on july 4th, it seemed like half of Colorado was on fire yet the people doing fireworks was just unbelievable.
This is happening fr.
Isn't that how the big L.A. fire started? People are so dumb.
i just placed a bet on kalshi that humans were involved gonna be a rich man
Our neighbours started a very large bonfire right next to the fence 2 days ago that was rapidly growing so I called the fire brigade. We live on the border of a nature reserve, we're literally in the woods and their fence was next to an electrical substation. The firemen absolutely tore them a new one for starting the fire. It was a very stupid move on their part. Call me a Karen for reporting them, but it absolutely could have gone SO wrong.
I do not understand these people! I am not sure if the fireman would report this to the police as reckless behaviour, or is that our job?
That's NOT being a Karen. Have these idiots NOT seen the devasting fires in france?
That is far from being a Karen. Someone had to use common sense because they certainly weren't. I'd be bringing donuts for the fireman just fir ripping them a new one!
Im in Northern CA where burning to the ground in massive wildfires is a regular summer time practice.. Yes. People still spark up casual fires like its not threatening to life and limb.. I cant wrap my head around it.
Los bomberos debieran actuar... Su misión no es sólo apagar el fuego.
They should douse the whole house in water, smashing in all the windows with their water hose and flooding the whole joint. You know, to be safe
This wasn’t just breaking a rule. It was ignoring common sense.
agreed
Still can't quite rival the gender reveal that sparked a wildfire-the couple was criminally charged and have to pay over a million dollars in restitution. California I believe.
El Dorado Fire 2020 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Dorado_Fire Absolute insanity. They set off a smoke bomb in a very dry area. A firefighter was killed so the couple were also charged with manslaughter.
It wasn't even the first such case, the one I initially thought about was in Arizona all the way back in 2017 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sawmill_Fire_(2017)
I would call in a fire every time they do it. I had to do that with a neighbor that ignored our fire bans.
Please report it.
I'm getting so tired of stupid people and beginning to believe they have no soul. In addition to structure damage, people could be hurt.
Definitely report it. People like that are a danger to everyone else.
I would have reported it the minute I saw the fire. Why wait for something bad to happen?
Yep, dealt with something similar, about a decade ago, when my cousins & i got together for a camping weekend in our hometown. It was a very dry summer, and at the time, i think 6 of the male cousins & in-laws were on the local Volunteer Fire Departments. So they'd been called out *multiple times* over the previous weeks (including at night!), to fight grass fires. And we were *still* under fire-watch conditions, although bonfires *had* recently been allowed again. Annnnnd then, at sunset on Friday, the folks across the campground decided to get out some of those "Chinese Paper Lanterns" for their kids, and one got airborne before any of us noticed them lighting it. Needless to say, a contingent of the guys from our side went *storming* over there, to tell them that those lanterns are straight-up *illegal* in our state--because they're a total grassfire hazard, and that the cops *would* be called, if they dared to light up or release any more. The cousins *also* told them, "We're here to relax and have some drinks, after fighting grass fires this week. *If* we get called out to put out a fire *because of your stupidity*? We KNOW where you are, we know how to get your address & information (it was a town-owned campground), and you *WILL* be fined, for the costs of putting out the fire." They got a few startled, "Oh, we didn't know's!" from the other campers, and that group ended up packing & leaving pretty early Saturday morning. And luckily, the one lantern they let go either burned out before it landed, or landed somewhere that it didn't catch fire, because the boys' pagers didn't go off for any fire calls that weekend.
22 years ago, I had just moved to NYC. I was in my living room enjoying a cocktail when I spied big flames on the top floor of an apartment building a couple of blocks over. I genuinely thought it was a kitchen fire. I called 911, they asked me to wait on the block for the FDNY. FDNY came, entered the building, a little while later embers floated down to the street. When the FDNY emerged they told me it was a charcoal grill. In NYC it is illegal to use a charcoal or gas grill within 10 feet of a building, and this was a prewar (WW1) building that could burn down very easily. I don’t doubt that the grill users got a pretty hefty fine.
We live in California. You’ve no idea the destruction caused by bonfires or simply not putting out camp fires. Lives lost, hundreds of homes destroyed, animals killed. It’s horrific. I’ll be a Karen all day long if it means educating idiots. A family member is a fire fighter, you’d never believe how people’s thoughtless actions put themselves, their kids and their neighbors at risk…. And the lives of those whose job it is to help them.
Yup, sever drought, forests are a tinderbox. Hey, lets have us a huge fireworks event. WTF.
As a person with a firefighter father people can be very dumb when it comes to fire but that’s a story for a different time
Arizona summers are bone dry, making massive wildfires an annual reality. While most people do their best to follow our strict fire safety laws, monsoon lightning strikes still trigger widespread blazes.
I live in a semi rural mountain area of the southwest that is in extreme drought and surrounded by ponderosa pine forests. Last year, here on Reddit, on a somewhat geographically local subreddit (a city an hour away) a person was asking where they can have a big bonfire in my very local area. Several Redditors responded imploring this person to refrain from building a fire in this area or any area that is extremely vulnerable. Some suggested he make the several hours drive to a beach and do it there. This person got irate and rude and insisted that they will be coming to our area to build their bonfire. People are gonna people.
When the fires were happening in Canada and the air was super bad outside where I live and I was wearing a mask when I was outside. Which most people were not doing, but someone on my block spent hours blowing off fireworks the night when the air was already in the red and purple zone, people are just selfish idiots.
Given that pretty much most countries are having record temperatures and dry spells, lighting a bonfire anywhere is reckless at the very least. I won’t even put my BBQ on just now. The trees in my garden are suffering, we don’t have a hosepipe ban here and recently had some decent rain but it’s still very dry and brown all round.
I check the fire conditions put out by my province before I even consider a fire. I also check to see how windy it is. If either is not optimal, the fire for the evening gets vetoed. Live in a duplex and one former neighbour family, I swear, had a burgeoning firebug(read pyromaniac) in their midst. This little guy was maybe 6 when they moved and he ALWAYS wanted the fires they had roaring. Like flames six feet high roaring. We always kept an eye out when they had a fire because they would put it on, watch for maybe half an hour and then just go inside and let the fire die on it's own. And the father's dad was a fire chief apparently. 😶 I feel for the neighbourhood they moved to. 🙄
My husband has done this before. Drives me crazy.
“thought process”? Well, there’s your problem.
I will see your crazy neighbor and offer up mine. A neighbor a few houses down from me decided to use what appeared to be a flame thrower to kill the weeds between the cracks in his driveway and sidewalk. Well, of course he caused a fire to race across the lawn. Not his lawn but his neighbor's lawn and it melted their siding and killed a huge pine tree. He told the police that he feared using weed killer since they cause cancer.
Common to use a propane torch for those, and if you aren't stupid (and either have stone borders or soak the edges) you CAN do it safely. I'm guessing you've never seen a cottonwood burnout? https://youtube.com/shorts/4wHjx3j3x8Q Of course you can't be stupid when you do it so most people should never try.
I just use boiling water from the kettle. Takes a while, my yard isn’t the smallest, but there’s not fires getting started and no toxic chemicals being used. Works beautifully.
I hope they get fined and have to pay for the fire brigade. Idiots.
I can only hope.
I hope the fire brigade charge them for their stupidity
I would just call and report a fire as soon as I saw that, considering the circumstances and the drought situation.
Our property backs a national forest somewhat near a lake. A neighbor, about a mile down the road, only comes out a few weekends a year. He also brings aerial fireworks to shoot off. They sound like 50 caliber guns going off, which scare my poor animals. I'm waiting for him to catch the forest on fire, and my house. 🤦♀️ We are too far out for law enforcement to get here in a timely manner. We are in a Stage 2 Fire Restriction area. Some people...
What happened to people minding their own business?
If YOUR fire has a high likelihood of damaging MY property, then it's MY business! What happened to "it takes a village"?
People lack common sense or grasp reality.
What's a "Hosepipe"? & why are they banned?
From Context I would say it’s a garden hose and it’s banned because of the water shortage caused by the drought
Swiss guy here. We just celebrated 1st of August, our 4th of July national celebration. Usually, there are a lot of bonfires, fireworks, bbqs. But due to the draught, most of our states (Kantone) have announced a complete ban of fires, fireworks etc. Grilling and bbq only with gas and electric grills. And at least in the area I was yesterday and today, I didn't hear any fireworks. So wonderful quiet.
I live not too far from an area called Angle Vale in Australia. Every fire season some idiot will start a grass fire in Angle Vale by cutting metal around dry grass, with a fucking Angle Grinder.
I’ve seen huge bonfires when we have a burn ban because of lack of rain. Hell, I saw a bonfire the day I had to drive through smoke from a nearby wildfire. And yes. I called on them. We had a wildfire come damn close to us that was set by someone burning their dead grass at their weekend home. Not a super uncommon thing to do, but they “put it out” half assed and then went home. It was not, in fact, out. That fire came close enough I had both cars prepacked with stuff for if we had to leave.
I’m in Colorado and we’ve had some serious wildfires going on. And yes, we have some very stupid neighbors who have done the same. The fire ban is all over the news and on highway signs. They seemed very surprised when the fire department showed up. Hope they were seriously fined.
Where’s the pictures.
Half of us have below average intelligence.
I am in the northwest where we are having major fires and there were winds yesterday with gusts up to 50 mph and while perusing the updates on fires, it was posted that a bonfire was spotted, just a few miles from where a brush fire had just been put out. Seriously, people. I do not get it
"My neighbor thought..." Let me stop you right there. You have no evidence of that.
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Hahahaha! OK. This is why public shaming was invented. Nobody is threatening anyone - just pointing out that there are reasons entire swaths of humanity get upset with an individual and decide that there are ostracizing one way or another would be better than living with a threat to everyone’s existence.
LOL, the church in front of my property, was doing an expansion and hired some jackwagon contractor from several counties away to clear the property, about 3 acres of timber, they piled it up into several piles as high as they could get with a trackhoe. maybe 20 foot tall piles of dead timber 30 feet wide by 60 feet long. 3 of em huge piles of timber and brush. then lit them on fire, in the middle of the summer during a fire ban as the sun was setting, I could see the flames roughly 80 feet tall over the remaining trees my property is a160 acres inherited family farm than my family homesteaded over 200 years ago, its now reclaimed farmland thats been replanted as wildlife habitat, with old wooden barns, outbuildings and my house built into the middle of it all, with a 200 acre corps of engineers flood control lake now taking up 40 or so acres that was the best field in the bottomland,. wood all just waiting for a spark to burn me out of house and home actually only the exterior is wood, cedar board and batten attached to drylock panels over metal framing and metal roof, mostly not concerned about the house in a fire but still... I lost my shit.. i called 911, I called the state Fire Marshall , I called the mayor and the chief of police, I own a construction company( farming was never my interest, thus the reclaimed farm, tho its actually listed as a tree farm for tax purposes) and deal with these people on the regular. and grew up with most of them. everybody showed up. 2 complete fire companies leaving the third in reserve in something else caught on fire, and the outlying volunteer departments put on notice that they might be needed to assist if something went bad, several sent trucks anyway just in case and to watch the show. along with several neighbors who were also concerned about these idiots firebug tendencies regarding their own properties and a couple deacons of the church who looked they just swallowed something bitter and were uncertain of wither to spit it out in public.. it was one hell of a show. 6 big fire trucks several smaller fast response brush fire trucks, 4 police cars, 2 state fire marshall cars and one bulldozer from the state wildlife agency in case they needed to cut a firebreak. jackwagon didnt know wither to shit or go blind, one minute he and his guys are sitting there drinking beer watching big fires and the next the whole world showed up pissed. he hadnt even applied for a burn permit, just lit it up and hoped for the best.. fires got put out , arrests were made, fines were issued, equipment was seized, and invoices were submitted for the entire cost of the response, jackwagon is now bankrupt, charged with several felonies and his business closed. just damned foolish and reckless from start to finish and he got what he deserved when he put mine and my neighbors properties at risk.
My idiot neighbor did this. Drought conditions and he starts a big bonfire under a tree. A neighbor behind him smells the smoke and calls it in. That neighbor is a volunteer fire fighter. Idiot neighbor has his fire put out and gets a notice.
I'm always surprised at how many dumb people are just existing in and seemingly having marginal decent lives(maybe that makes me dumb for being regularly surprised, idk). Today, as I was biking up a steepish hill, I was looking at all the parked cars.... I was climbing the hill, on the right hand side. half of the cars had their front wheels turned hard to the left, half of them had them turned hard to the right(ok, maybe it was 1/3) but still like a 1/3 don't understand the point of turning their wheels and what it's suppose to accomplish, and do the polar wrong thing as a result! It's not Rocket Surgery!
Rather than entitledpeople is the a sub for stupidpeople?
Our neighbors loved to do cookouts. The fire department got tired of the calls and the Chief had a long talk with them about how to build a decent firepit. They don't cook out as much since that happened.
My state has a drought map online. Not only does it show how dry each county is, they show which counties are under a burn ban. It's updated daily. I always check it before burning brush.