To think that if enough smoke is billowing out of your house to make people come out of their houses or stop their cars, you should probably call the fire brigade?

[ChristabelChristmas]

Today I was driving along a road when DM shouted that there was a house on fire. I turned around and we went back to look and another man came out of his house at the same time. There was thick black smoke billowing out of their roof and across the road. The man ran and knocked on the door to see if anyone was inside. A lady came to the door and told him that it was fine and it was a chimney fire but they had it under control and she wasn't going to call the fire brigade. She lived in a terraced house and it looked like the smoke was coming out of the roofs of the houses next to her too.

Surely if there is a fire then you have a duty to make sure that it is dealt with properly? I doubt she could see the amount of smoke in the road and the other houses from inside her own house. Also if the fire was in the chimney it could easily have spread under the roofs.

In the end enough people were concerned that we decided as a group to call the fire brigade. The lady in the house was not at all pleased, even though the firemen said we had done the right thing in calling them. AIBU to think that she was being really irresponsible? I know we should never call 999 unnecessarily but this was definitely an appropriate thing to do in this instance.

She was probably trying to avoid the hose down the chimney and the ruined living room
You did the right thing.

Oh, I didn't think of that. I just thought "fire!" I hope she doesn't have a ruined sitting room - I feel bad now and might have to go round with a mop!

My DDad once set our chimney on fire. He hadn't set the fire in the grate properly. He had to call the fire brigade in the end, but was very embarrassed about it and put it off for as long as possible, trying to put it out himself.

Maybe the lady knew she'd made a mistake and the embarrassment was clouding her judgement?

A good point, Poppy but she had children in the house too. I mean, you've got to be responsible and set a good example even if you are embarrassed. Whatever would Fireman Sam say?!

Don't feel bad. You did the right thing.

Also probably concerned that if she hadn't had her chimney cleaned in years she might be charged for the call-out (no idea if the fire brigade actually do this, but it's a common belief).

You don't need the householder's permission to call the fire brigade - she could have caused the fire to spread to the neighbouring properties. You did the right thing, absolutely.

Assuming that she doesn't have a dragon as a pet you did the right thing

You did the right thing. Householder was daft - probably embarrassed.

I called the police on Christmas Eve, someone in the left lane of the A406 sheer brick wall to his left, bonnet up, looking under the hood. Don't know WTF he was doing but I called 999 and told them that someone might go into the back of him.

You did the right thing. Please don't doubt that.

The sight of a burnt out house near one of the schools that I went to still haunts me now.

NEVER underestimate fire, electricity, gas or water.

While walking back from the pub one night, I called the fire-brigade because a garden shed was on fire, which had set light to the fence which in turn was burning a bush next to the back door of a house.

It was about 10.30 at night when they arrived. The guy next door came out of his house to remonstrate with the firemen for making too much noise. Then he punched one on the nose! Police were called, and as they were asking me for a statement (as a witness), they were telling me that it was fairly common for firemen to be assaulted in this way. Now that is definitely being unreasonable!

I think you did the right thing. A fire can quickly change direction or intensity. And smoke kills more than fire does.