Neighbours and the fire pit!

[Fresta]

Returned home from an evening out, got out of the car on the front drive to the smell of burning wood like a bonfire. Looked around and no sign of anyone having a bonfire, go round to the back of house and the neighbour has a fire pit burning on the patio- she's gone to bed and left it smoking- the washing on the line stinks, the house stinks, had to close all the windows! It's been 25 degrees all day here and it was warm enough to sit out until well after dark tonight so what is the point of a stupid fire pit? And why would you light one on the first night in weeks that it's been nice enough to sit out! It must have made everyone else's gardens unpleasant to sit in! Luckily I was out sitting in my brothers garden tonight so that bit din't affect us- but if we had been in I'd've been even more livid! I know people like BBqs when it's warm but they only smoke whilst they are being used which is just the time it takes to cook the food- the fire pit thing is still smoking now and it's 11.30pm! Neighbour has form for being a pyromaniac!

There are several people in our street who do the same, including us, but ensure there’s no ones washing out and the fire is out at an acceptable time. Personally, it doesn’t really bother me so much, but I know some folk get a bit precious about it.

Shock horror i leave my washing out overnight. Wtf has it got to do with anyone else. Why was your washing out at 11.30pm??? My reply would be mind your beeswax aggie

Tofty it’s great it doesn’t bother you - but not everyone likes smoke.

I don’t think it’s precious to find it irritating

I really don't understand people's fascination with burning things. I'm fed up of smelling smoke and having to have all my windows closed in 30 degree heat.
Last year the twats next door accidentally burned down 4 houses' boundaries, neighbours a couple of doors down have regular rubbish fires 😑 and now their next door neighbour has a fire pit that he's using nightly. No one bothers to check if anyone's washing is out either but several of my neighbours leave their washing out overnight so they must constantly be re-washing it.

I really don't understand people's fascination with burning things

Can only speak about the people near me, bit, mostly it seems to be a caveman thing.

"Uh uh, fire ennit? Unhhuhuhh burning stuff nah wot a mean?"
One step up from chest beating and cock swinging.

I’ve been living wildly the last few nights and have been putting my washing out to get darked on 😎

You know years ago people used to think bout other people.
Before they lit a fire they'd check their neighbours didn't have washing out, even knocked on neighbours doors and warned them. They'd actually think,
"Will my smoke and noise upset or interfere with other people?"
These days people think,
"I want, I want I want, fuck em, fuck em, fuck em"

Because people are becoming more and more selfish, more and more inconsiderate and more and more stupid.
I'm fact, I'd bet there's a connection between stupidity and being an inconsiderate jackass.

100% agree with this

Girls next door were sat around the chimenea yesterday afternoon. I just do not understand.

Let's sit out in 30 degree heat and light a particularly stinky fire and sit next to it.

My washing was out. So that's two different neighbours two consecutive days lighting fires in the afternoon on boiling days. I'm destined to reek of smoke.

PP is correct that once upon a time people would have at least let their immediate neighbours know if they could see you had washing out.

Yanbu my neighbour chose last years heatwave to have a bonfire it hadn't rained for over a month and he had a fire he set fire to the hedge the fence the tree unfortunately not his pot shed or we would all have been high we ended up with the fire brigade and a stinky house

Maybe the neighbour was pissed off because you left your unsightly washing on the line and fucked off out on a warm day when she wanted to sit in her garden and have a little fire. 🤔🤷🏻‍♀️

OP
Can you live next door to us please? We have those sort of morals and are considerate neighbours....sadly our neighbours three doors down seem to enjoy having their dogs bark for three hours solid between the hours of 8&11 every nice evening.
I did go around when I was trying to figure out whose dogs they were and mentioned that they were barking ALOT and she laughed it off saying it’s because they know she’s home and she won’t let them in 😳
hubby says I shouldn’t go around again as she had some dodgy looking guests round lol and doesn’t want the repercussions. (Sometimes you can tell what sort of people they are - and whether they’ll be reasonable?!)
I think I’ll ring the council tomorrow and hopefully they’ll send a letter and fingers crossed she’ll do something about it otherwise I don’t know what we’ll do!

Am I the only person who is getting fire pit adverts on this thread

My neighbour is probably assuming this Thread was started by me as I have had the exact same argument. It’s so antisocial and selfish to stink out all your neighbours!

Not another one. I had a neighbour whose partner lit a fire pit nearly every night even in the winter. They had 3 children one 19 years old who complained to her DF about the smell he was causing in her room he still did it. My house also stank at the back and I certainly couldn't sit out in the garden. Local Council intervened applying bylaws causing nuisance and health and safety. Family was grateful as was I.

She lit a fire pit in her own garden in the evening - outrageous behaviour If she had done it during the day, I think you would have cause to complain, but come on. It's bbq season, so if you leave washing out there's a good chance it is going to get smoky. If the firepit was smoking, she obviously left it to go out - it doesnt have an 'off' switch. Most people put charcoal in their fire pits, same as bbq's, although your neighbour may have put something more smoky like damp paper/wood - ? And on bonfire night she has a bonfire like many in the UK (it's only once a year). If it bothers you speak to her or leave a (polite) note asking if she could move the firepit a bit further from your house or to let you know so you can get your washing in. I wouldn't hose it unless you want to start a neighbourly war.

We were at bil's at a bbq that night and later on he lit the fire pit because it got a lot cooler.

Around us there is an unofficial policy of bbqs/bonfires/fire pits after 6 pm and that seems to work OK. No-one has ever discussed it, it's just something we all do. Yes you can smell smoke, but I hardly say we are being smoked out.

If you live in a residential area, you may have to put up with some things (noise/parking/etc), as long as not totally ott and disrespectful, you have to be a bit tolerant and compromise a little. There may be stuff that you do that annoys your neighbours too.

@slipperywhensparticus same happened to me last year. The trees went up and everyone lost their boundaries - we have no privacy anymore and people had been growing them for over 20yrs.
The twats who set it got a new fence out of the council yet the rest of us were left to pay for our own replacements - as despite the fire-twats' promise to pay for replacements, they 'can't afford it'.

Now every time I smell smoke I panic that they've done it again.

The Amazon rainforest is on fire and you’re worried about next door fire pit making your washing smell? Get a grip

Am I the only person who is getting fire pit adverts on this thread grin

Nope. Same here

They could have taken your washing in if they knew you were out ...i honestly hate the sme ll of wood burning and barbeques my neighbours the same slightest bit of sunshine its our even if it just to cook his bacon for his lunch .

DNeighbours have a fire pit, doesn't bother us tbh- and these are new builds so hardly the most generously proportioned gardens. I would never leave a window open (this will not effect your cover on most household policies, but some policies do specify there needs to be forcible entry) and leave the house for six hours, nor would I leave washing out. But even if we're in I close the windows at the back if we see cars gathering at DNeighbours' house, because it normally means a bbq/hot tub/fire pit sesh is in the offing. It's part and parcel of living in close confines with other people- fire pits aren't illegal or uncommon when entertaining during the summer, and they're entitled to use their garden.

Even if your neighbour was the considerate sort, if she'd gone to light her fire pit and then noticed you'd left your washing out and windows open she couldn't have given you the opportunity to shut the windows and take in the washing as you'd gone out. You took a calculated risk leaving your windows open and washing out (with a chance of burglars, unforecasted rain, smoke, washing getting darked on) until your return and it didn't pay off.

What happened to 'bonfire etiquette'?! Where I grew up the following unwritten rules applied:

1. Bonfires should only be lit at dusk/after dark
2. Bonfires should only be lit when it's cool enough for windows to be closed
3. On the very rare occasion that a bonfire 'must' be lit during the day/summer heat: A) check that the wind is blowing away from nearby houses (this rule applies to all bonfires regardless) B) check that no washing is hanging out to dry B) check it's ok with your neighbours

I don't mind the odd BBQ, but I have neighbours a few doors down who think nothing of having a bonfire on the hottest day of the year. It's selfish and antisocial.

We have a log burner but it smells nothing like a bonfire/fire pit. Then again, we’re responsible and burn only well seasoned oak and it’s obviously only used in autumn/winter. People tend to throw anything on a bonfire or fire pit and it does create plumes of smoke and stinks, which IBU

To your face yes.. I wonder what they say behind closed doors about having to shut their windows in the summer or have their home filled with shit smelling smoke by inconsiderate fucknuts?

I suppose it's possible they're hypocritical arseholes, but we don't do that when they have a barbeque

My neighbours have lit an enormous fire again today burning garden waste. I first realised when I saw ash raining down at the front of my house (these neighbours are at the back!). It looks like snow. It comes in waves then seems to settle and then stops again.

I'm actually wondering whether hot ash landing on neighbouring properties is a fire risk in this heat.

That would send me round the bend NewShoes. Can't you go outside and yell "put that fucking fire out!" ?

Failing that, phone the council?