My neighbour has built a bonfire in the garden

[Alexindisguise]

Presumably to be lit tonight. It's big, about 10ft away from the back of our semi detached houses.

Aibu to be alarmed and think no one in their right mind would do this?

They've only lived here a few weeks, so don't know them at all.

Other than be on standby with a hose pipe tonight, anything we can do?

If it is soft furnishings , I would worry about poisonous fumes
Are you sure it is only ten feet? Distances look much shorter outside.And ten feet would be about the depth of a small patio
I think we need a photo!

If it’s ten feet from you how close is I to their own house

I would redo ring 101 for advice

OP,

Show the neighbours this 30 second clip.
(plus the bonfire in video looks further away from a house than 10ft, and isn't even that big, yet is still out of control/throwing out massive heat, smoke and sparks...).

OP, like others have suggested- hose it down now. What an arsehole.

Weirdly enough it popped up on my fb this morning that this time last year the women across the road decided to have a bonfire which caused power cut for half the street

Sorry posted to soon.

Her garden is HUGE but it STILL got out of control. Defo 111 for advice.

101 even not 111 sorry.

www.gov.uk/garden-bonfires-rules

www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/bonfire-safety

'as a rule of thumb the bonfire should be a minimum of five times its height from property'

So unless it's only 60cm tall then it's too close to your house.

autumn
is that bonfire in your clip out of control? It just looks like a bonfire to me?

...and the bonfire is way higher than 5 ft it's bigger than the fences

No real advice OP but I sympathise, last year our neighbour decided to have a bonfire on a very windy day, it was a very tense afternoon keeping an eye on the fence! DH had commented jokingly earlier in the day that it might not be the best weather for a bonfire but NDN was adamant the wind would ease up and it would be fine As it goes, he ended up throwing buckets of water over the bottom of his shed so it obviously didn't go entirely to plan!

Trouble with dousing the bonfire is they will just throw more paraffin on to get it started

Phone 101 and report your concerns. The police will be able to contact the fire service in your behalf to come and assess the bonfire.

I know our Force have cops shadowing Fire Appliances on Nov 5 & the Fire Service/council usually have a dedicated unit for calls such as yours. They'll always attend if a bonfire is beside or close to a house

I'm pretty sure your local fire brigade would rather pop round and get him to dismantle it than deal with an out of control fire on what's going to be a busy evening for them
Maybe have a look online to see if your local council has a contact number, or the fire brigade a facebook or twitter contact point?
Failing that 101.

I can’t believe they can’t see a problem with that! Crikey. 5ft tall and 10ft from the house in a small backyard? That sounds really dangerous.

Do you own a fire extinguisher? This might be a good day to buy one. It will be more effective than a hose.

If you end up having to use it, you could ask your NDN to reimburse you. If you don't need to use it, you could keep it or maybe return it to the shop.

perma,

By "out of control", I meant that it was already in danger of taking the wooden fence (and melting neighbour's shed roof)/ tree branches etc, especially due to the wind direction being all over the shop.

Presumably when they first built it, they didn't factor in wind potential, and underestimated the reach of the heat towards the houses...or they'd not have risked such a stupid location.

You're right: I'd missed OP updating about her neighbours' bonfire being 5 ft (was going by her original description of "big", and imagined a towering pile!). But she also mentions he's still sawing wood to add...

I wanna a photo 😸 (Please)

At the very least your house will stink of smoke for ages.

Selfish git.

Update from peeping behind my curtains, ndn is currently moving it further down the garden, to approx. 15ft away from the house. Seems he did listen a little after all but still would be happier if it wasn't happening altogether.

Me and other neighbour will be on fire watch tonight and ready.

There's an organised event 5 minutes away just no need to do it at home at all. I would bet money on him having a load of fireworks too.

I will try and post a pic when its lit, so I don't completely out myself.

Just start to hose the area of the garden when he lights it tonight--if it accidentaly soaks the bonfire and puts the flames out what a shame .
Get your other neighbour to do the same..

I'd be tempted to phone the fire brigade the moment the bugger lights it.

This is because I've lived through the aftermath of an electrical house fire and saw the damage that occurred in the 20 mins it took the fire brigade to arrive in a rural area.

The fire brigade won't be too polite to tell him what an absolute moron he is.

I'm a country lass who is totally pro bonfire, but this sounds ridiculous.

Fence panels are hugely combustible especially if treated with creosote.

Pallets etc spark loads. And an almost flat bonfire will have flames coming up an extra foot or two.

I'd not be bothered about the smoke but I'd be v concerned it would spread. When we have fires now (in town) we a) warn the neighbours b) keep them really low c) take the fence panels out d) have a hose on standby and e) keep a really close eye until they have totally died down and rake them over to stop anything catching again later or in case the fire spreads underground. It's really hard to do the last one with a big fire as it'll stay hot for ages.

Think I'd be trying the police/fire station Facebook pages as suggested above. Deffo move/bring in anything plastic as I'd be worried about hot ashes flying up.

You're peeping from behind the curtains?
CALL 101!
Fire's not a game. If THEY think it's wrong, they'll come and deal with him.
I can't understand why you're waiting?

(Oh and f hold them at least 50 ft from the house)