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AIBU?

Neighbour and firepit

27 replies

runforthesun · 08/06/2020 20:51

I am quite prepared to be told iabu but I don't think I am but some other opinions would be nice. Newish neighbours have moved in next door and he lights a firepit most nights. I am asthmatic and the smell permeates through the house so that you can't have the windows open, with warmer weather coming it's going to be unbearable.aibu or just intolerant?

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TrollTheRespawnJeremy · 08/06/2020 20:53

I hate them as well.

Maybe make it known that you’re very asthmatic- could they give you a heads up before lighting so that you can shut windows etc.

It will hopefully make them think in future about being considerate when you’re using your garden.

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nancy75 · 08/06/2020 20:54

They should be banned, my neighbour has got one & it makes my house stink. Ask them nicely to move it as far away as possible, if they don’t report to environmental health every time they light it - it can be classed as a nuisance fire like bonfires

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Pipandmum · 08/06/2020 20:57

I guess it depends. My neighbours are fond of bonfires, but its wood and I like the smell, though the smoke is occasionally annoying. We have a fire pit up the far end of the garden and we light it a couple times a month, but our gardens are on the large side and it's far as possible away from the house.
It's a toss up between his right to have one and your right to not have it affect your health. Is there another position he could put it?

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runforthesun · 08/06/2020 21:05

Thanks for your replies, if it was a couple of nights a month I could live with that but this is the 3rd night in a row so far. We are only in semi's with not big gardens so hard to get away from. Added to the fact I have another dick neighbour that is always barbecuing I think after 17 years it might be time to move!

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66redballons · 08/06/2020 21:10

You can not be serious. It’s their garden, their own space. Why should they plan to suit you. Sheeesh, no wonder we have a generation of snowflakes.
Close your door and window. Job done.

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RunningAwaywiththeCircus · 08/06/2020 21:14

This reply has been withdrawn

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okiedokieme · 08/06/2020 21:16

We used to use ours 2-3 times a week, next door neighbours the same. But houses are wide and detached so doesn't affect neighbours

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hellsbells99 · 08/06/2020 21:21

I think fire pits will be used a lot at the moment particularly if you are having a friend round for a drink in the evening .....and having to stay in the garden

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runforthesun · 08/06/2020 21:40

But why should I have to shut my windows because someone else is selfishly burning wood every night? I shut them so my house doesn't stink, at no point have I told them what to do, hardly snowflake behaviour.

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Bertucci · 08/06/2020 21:47

Really bloody selfish - just like feckless idiots that have bonfires with complete disregard for the impact it may have on others.

Our friends have a fire pit and their garden is small with neighbours at very close proximity either side. One of her neighbours (politely) complained and my friend went onto Facebook to moan about how unreasonable he is being.

If your gardens are big and spread out, that's usually OK. But if it impacts on your neighbours, be it smoke, noise or anything anti-social - you should have some consideration.

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Warpdrive · 08/06/2020 21:49

You cant control the neighbour's use of their fire pit. You can try to appeal to their sense of neighbourliness (is that even a word?) But if that fails you will have to suck it up I'm afraid.

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Midsommar · 08/06/2020 21:55

If it continues then nip round and politely point out that you have a respiratory illness and you would appreciate it if they told you in advance of them lighting the firepit.
All the PPs saying you are selfish/a snowflake mustn't live in small houses where their neighbours' activities impact them. I'm on your side with this OP.

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atimetobealive · 08/06/2020 22:16

Report every time.

Honestly it’s so bloody antisocial. I sometimes wonder how people can be so self absorbed that they think lighting fires and stinking out their neighbours’ homes, never mind aggravating respiratory illnesses, is a neighbourly thing to do.

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rosiejaune · 08/06/2020 22:19

It's not being a "snowflake" to be concerned that the equivalent particulates to 800 cigarettes are being produced every minute that firepit is lit.

Even if the OP wasn't asthmatic, it would be having a significant impact on their general health, though that might not be immediately obvious.

Air pollution sucks; society needs an attitude change about it.

Maybe this website will be useful in some way: woodsmokepollution.org/index.html

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LadyFeliciaMontague · 08/06/2020 22:21

I feel your pain.
One side has a fire pit-they even light it when it’s scortching sun and still really light at 7pm.
Other side has a log burner-lit from September until just a couple of weeks ago.
It means we are smoked out summer and winter & we have a COPD sufferer.

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R2519 · 08/06/2020 22:22

Ask them nicely and explain your asthma is bad and made worse by the smoke etc. If that doesnt work when the firepit is lit again climb ladder with a hosepipe and aim the hose at the fire and put it out!
(I'm joking of course......speak to the local authority. If your health suffers by repeated fires they will likely do sonething. )

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Itwasntme1 · 08/06/2020 22:48

My neighbours went through this phase last summer. Urban area, dense housing, fire pit was about a meter from my front door, right under my bedroom window.

My house stank, it started at about 7pm each night and always seemed to blow directly into my garden and house. Couldn’t escape it.

It’s a smoke free zone - and they would be he first to complain if anyone stepped even slightly out of line, she want mental at me a couple of summers ago for trimming overhanging branches.

Every neighbourhood has a selfish self righteous prick.

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BrummyMum1 · 08/06/2020 23:08

Fine for a massive country garden. Really inconsiderate and thoughtless for a semi detached run of houses.

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worzelsnurzel123 · 08/06/2020 23:15

Totally awful. Someone else’s desire to burn rubbish or enjoy leisure time round a fire does not trump your health. I’m asthmatic too and the smoke from such fires triggers awful attacks of wheezing and vomiting. It’s so hellish I just want to cry if anyone mentions them as I really suffer.

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Fuss · 08/06/2020 23:21

When the weather is nice the guy behind me lights his burn barrel. I have to shut every window. He did this for eight days in a row last week.
Suspect the old fella next door has had enough though as last time he carefully moved his sprinkler to the fence line 😂

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TorysSuckRevokeArticle50 · 08/06/2020 23:27

My next door neighbour has only just in the last 5 minutes stopped chopping up logs and feeding them into his bonfire. He does this regularly, you can hear loud thuds, sawing and stuff being dragged around as well as the crackling of a huge bonfire and the smoke till midnight/1am.

I hate him!

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Threeflyingducks · 08/06/2020 23:27

Check your local council website. Some areas have temporarily banned garden fires because of two things:
They don't want extra pressure on emergency services if anything goes wrong
It's really fucking stupid to light fires in populated areas when significant numbers of people are trying to recover from respiratory illnesses.

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JustTryingToGetThroughThis · 08/06/2020 23:31

Are you my neighbour..?
We have a neighbour who this is the 3rd night lighting one too.. Around 6pm and I always have washing out. Never comes to tell us.
And am I your neighbour as we bbq a lot on nice days. Even if just a bit of chicken with salad.. Toddler seems to eat better if it's bbqd? Weird one

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Fuss · 08/06/2020 23:33

I confess I'm waiting for the evening when all their windows are open and his wife has washing out to burn the glut of junk mail I've been building up to shred.
Petty? Absolutely. But satisfying.

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Bargainhuntbore · 08/06/2020 23:35

I have a fire pit and use it pretty often if the weather is nice. But the smoke gets everywhere and my hair smells when I go to bed. No matter how the wind blows it just does. And i dont have neighbours. Zero.

So if I were you I’d be rather peeved.

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