So, how far away from your tent should your fire/BBQ be?

[WeAreSeven]

In light of the recent death of that poor girl from CO poisoning, I was wondering are there any guidelines on how far away from the tent door is safe to have a BBQ? Last weekend, on the campsite we were on, loads of people had disposable barbecues in their porch or fires very close to their tents. And are disposable barbecues more dangerous than, say, a gas stove? Or is it just coincidence that recent deaths have been due to disposable barbecues?
And what about stoves inside Bell tents? Is there a CO risk from them? I would love that set up but am concerned that it might actually be dangerous.

I have no idea but am also interested to hear others opinions. My DD and I have just returned from a few days camping and had a real issue with the group next to us and the low open brasier they kept lighting at 11pm after they came back from the pub. It was 12 feet from where my head was and the light wind blew straight from it to me. It actually woke me up the first night as I felt so ill, the tent stunk. Eventually after being very British and mumbling to myself for half an hour, I went outside to very politely ask them to douse it, to discover that 3 of them had gone to bed and the last had wandered off to make a phone call leaving it unattended! When he came back after 20 mins, he did put it out when I ask but I suspect only as he was going to bed now as well.
As I suspected they would do the same the next night (and the wind was blowing the same way) I had a word with the campsite owners who very kindly came round just as they were pilling on the wood and cardboard, to ask them to put it out. They were NOT happy! I sat there listening to them grumbling about me. I now this isn't AIBU but would genuinely like to know if I was!

Tortoise, if your tent stunk, I would be wondering what was getting into your lungs! I remember seeing a US camping safety video and they were lighting a fire about 20 feet away from their tent with no other tents in sight.
It's one of those situations where you hate to be the party-pooper but yet if you said nothing and something happened, you'd feel you should have.

Cooking when your awake and moving about is probably very little hazard. Caravans have stoves and many houses have tiny galley kitchens. A well maintained gas stove should produce carbon dioxide (CO2)

The risk from BBQs is they smoulder quietly for hours, quietly not burning efficently pumping out carbon monoxide. A sheltered tent awning is just the perfect place for the coals to smoulder in this way.

If you are a sleep you don't notice the headache CO causes and it quietly binds to your read blood cells stopping them carrying oxygen.

Not sure about barbeques but 5 meters for a campfire is what we always go with. I am often shocked by how close to their tent people build their campfires. Can't believe people aren't more concerned about the proximity between the big flappy bit of combustible fabric that they are going to sleep in and the fire!