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AIBU?

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Original poster

To think I didn't deserve abuse for this?

66 replies

QuestionableMouse · 22/09/2019 13:30

The lane where I walk my dog borders a arable field. It's had a stack of square bales on it for the past few days and a couple of spots of loose straw where the baling has failed. This morning I walked past and saw that one of the loose stacks was on fire. It was quite close to the big stack and the wind was blowing sparks on it. I rang the fire brigade who came out and dealt with it.

I posted on the village Facebook group so someone could let the farmer know so he could come over and speak to the fire brigade if he felt it was needed.

I got an absolute load of abuse back from him saying that I'd over reacted, that it would have burned itself out and a few of the other villagers agreed. It got go bad I deleted the post and blocked them all.

I don't think I over reacted. The pile of loose was quite large, well alight and the wind was blowing bits of flaming straw and sparks over the entire stubble field, including onto the large stack of bales.

Wibu?

OP posts:
Notmoresugar · 22/09/2019 14:12

The farmer must be on another planet.
With the weather we've had recently plus the wind - you absolutely did the right thing.

BrightYellowDaffodil · 22/09/2019 14:12

You absolutely did the right thing. Hay/straw fires can be incredibly dangerous and I'd be bloody grateful if someone saw my hay on fire and called the fire brigade!

I suspect he was up to something he shouldn't - it could have been poor quality and it 'accidentally' caught fire so he didn't have to get rid of it another way. Whatever the reasoning behind it, he was an absolute arse and gives farmers a bad name.

Boysey45 · 22/09/2019 14:12

It sounds like he was possibly trying to have a fire on purpose and claim off the insurance for XY and Z. You did the right thing, its obvious he was trying to pull a fast one.

WonderWomansSpin · 22/09/2019 14:13

I agree with WhatTiggers. I think you misunderstood the risk and what was happening. Presumably a lot of people on the FB page realised what was going on. From their pov, you called the fire brigade unnecessarily.
For someone who isn't used to controlled burnings/fires, it can appear a fire risk but people who are used to it, can tell that it isn't.

QualCheckBot · 22/09/2019 14:14

I actually think he must have been trying to burn the stubble. Its the only thing that makes sense. Apart from him being an abusive twat who can't stop mouthing off. Straw really isn't worth that much and there are uncollected bales lying around everywhere. Losing some bales of straw wouldn't be a great loss if he's an arable farmer.

GBroGal · 22/09/2019 14:27

You could say you got flamed ...

thepinkp · 22/09/2019 14:31

Ah harvest time! Farmers are no longer allowed to burn the cut fields .. this could well have been his plan as it happens here quite a bit (by accident of course) its a quick way of clearing the soil for the next crop.

Gindrinker43 · 22/09/2019 14:31

Stubble fires are dangerous and can qucikly get out of control. You did the right thing.

HooraySunshine · 22/09/2019 14:31

Welcome to village life OP! The people can be very odd at the best of times. I moved to a village 2 years ago and even making the littlest changes to my property (like changing the old curtains, planting flowers in my garden, mowing the grass a different way) resulted in a load of abuse directed towards me. The people (at least here) seem to be very insular and live by their own rules.
I agree with someone upthread, you probably spoiled an insurance scam. Just be glad you don't live there.

Rachelover60 · 22/09/2019 14:41

You were not unreasonable. Put it behind you now.

Oliversmumsarmy · 22/09/2019 14:45

Well you know who to not spit on if they are on fire.

Bezalelle · 22/09/2019 14:57

If I were you, I would go and set the bloody bales back on fire.

Butterfly84 · 22/09/2019 15:00

On FB pages like that, there are always people waiting to tell you you were wrong, this was the right thing to do... They probably wanted to be seen as 'the real country people' who know everything about farming.

Farmer was rude and ungrateful. You were kind and did the right thing.

PeoplesPoet · 22/09/2019 15:03

Yanbu of course you get the fire put out! What someone or a dog had been burned? It was sparking.

Farmer is very strange... something to hide on his farm that he doesn't want authorities seeing has he?...Hmm

The other villagers are just his sheep Grin

Aridane · 22/09/2019 15:09

YWNBU In:callingfire brigade (of course). It was unnecessary, however, to post about it on Facebook

vanillaicedtea · 22/09/2019 15:09

As someone from a farming family, some farmers are absolutely insane. Honestly, the amount of things they complain and get furious over is ridiculous. I remember a few years ago we'd tied metal hurdles along one of our fences bordering with another farmer to block any holes (old fence, hadn't the time to repair it properly) to stop our sheep going into his field. We can see this field from the family home. Later in the day we noticed that two of our sheep were actually in his field so we immediately drove up to bring them back through and find the hole, to find the other farmer had untied half of the hurdles and thrown them all over the ground earlier in the day when we were away. We ended up just running an electric fence alongside it, but we were absolutely baffled. The funniest bit though? Guess who's sheep broke into our empty field the following week? Not just one or two, but at least 100 of them. If he'd just acted like an adult the following week, we genuinely wouldn't have minded if it took him a day or two to get them moved out. But we took great pleasure in watching them all break through and then letting him know Grin. It was an enjoyable half an hour watching him attempt to round them up and locate the hole.

Don't feel hurt, you did the right thing. Some of them just love to cause a scene and give off stink over no fucking reason.

kateandme · 22/09/2019 15:13

oh right yes,should have known it was one of those fires that burn itself out...Confused

boujie · 22/09/2019 15:16

I once called the fire brigade because a bin on a street was on fire. They sent 2 fire engines to put it out. I mentioned to them that I hadn't realised they would send two engines for such a minor fire, and they said to me 'there's no such thing as a minor fire' - and it's so true! There's no such thing as a minor fire because it can turn into a major fire so very quickly.

You did absolutely the right thing, and you've just fallen foul of one of the unfortunate rules of the internet, which is that communicating through a screen turns a lot of people into self-righteous, mob-mentality arseholes.

EleanorReally · 22/09/2019 15:21

local facebook is appalling, i dont post, i have to sit on my hands admittedly

katalavenete · 22/09/2019 15:22

He sounds like a bully.

EleanorReally · 22/09/2019 15:24

let us have the address op, and we will re-start the fire for you Grin

Beesandcheese · 22/09/2019 15:27

I hadn't realised stubble burning was illegal now (it's been a while since I lived anywhere rural). I was bemused only yesterday by the sight of two fire engines at a field that looked to be stubble burning. I get it now. Thanks for clearing the mystery up. Perhaps he got landed with the bill?

ThatssomebadhatHarry · 22/09/2019 15:34

What a cunt you try to do a nice thing..... Not just saving the bales but potentially stopping the smoke.

“Sorry obviously I ruined your carefully planned insurance job, I’ll be sure to give your insurance company the heads up next time” would have been a wickedly good reply to the dick on facey.

gingersausage · 22/09/2019 15:40

Local Facebook pages IME are awful. Ours are full of rude twats who think it’s funny to slag off everything anyone posts. I live in a rural town with lots of farms and people’s sheep are always straying or cows falling in ditches, but heaven forbid anyone posts trying to help. All the knobs gang up and make wanky comments. It’s enough to put you off bothering.

Judashascomeintosomemoney · 22/09/2019 15:43

Farmer sounds weirdly pissed off for someone helping save his bales
Maybe they’re not saved though if they got a soaking by the Fire Brigade. Either way, he’s weird. And yes, isn’t odd the amount of ‘accidental’ fires clearing stubble fields this time of year Wink. Had a massive one just across the way from us last week.

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