Home › Forums › West Seattle Rants & Raves › Rant: Summertime backyard "recreational" wood fires
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August 6, 2016 at 8:29 pm #853539
Robert2715ParticipantI realize they are legal in Seattle, but really? Most of us live in close proximity to our neighbors and these totally unnecessary fires pollute the air and cause smoke that forces adjoining neighbors to close their windows. The stink usually lingers well into the next morning.
FYI, here are the regs:
http://www.seattle.gov/fire/FMO/firecode/cam/5022CAM%20RecreationalFires.pdfAugust 7, 2016 at 6:34 am #853557
anonymeParticipantAgree. Any open burn is both polluting and dangerous. Nothing worse on a sweltering evening than having to close all your windows due to smoke. And yes, the stink persists until morning. Don’t really understand why fire pits, including/especially those on beaches, are allowed at all.
August 7, 2016 at 9:14 am #853569
keepaircleanParticipantI agree totally! And how about people/neighbor who burns TRASH in their inside fireplace…talk about stink!!!
August 8, 2016 at 11:02 am #853711
PLSParticipant+1000! And it always happens on the hot days JUST when it’s cooling down enough outside to open the windows and air out the hot house. I’m so sick of it. If I wanted to live in a camp fire I’d be charcoal.
August 8, 2016 at 12:40 pm #853725
tom kelleyParticipantHas any of you spoken to your neighbor about this? I have a fire pit that extends any social gathering and really entertains the kids with marshmallow roasting. It’s a real asset. I always check wind direction and see if the downwind neighbors’ windows are open. A little communication might resolve the issue.
August 9, 2016 at 12:03 am #853812
AHexpatParticipantAnonyme, I am curious about why you take particular exception to fire pits on beaches?
August 9, 2016 at 7:48 am #853835
newnativeParticipantAnonyme was pretty clear about fire pits’ effect on overall air quality, with which I agree. I can’t go to Alki in the summer because of the fires on the beach, it’s that bad.
August 9, 2016 at 10:11 pm #853944
AHexpatParticipantNewnative, thank you for your comment… However, my question wasn’t why anonyme doesn’t like fires in general, but why do they take particular exception to beach fires.
I’m sorry that you don’t like fires, but there are many people who do enjoy them and they have been a part of the culture of Alki for many years, likely before you became a new “native.”
I don’t enjoy people bringing their dogs to beaches and letting them run around off-leash in violation of SMC 18.12.080 (A), but I understand that part of living in a densely populated urban area is having to deal with people making decisions that I don’t agree with, legal or otherwise. Perhaps you can learn to accept and appreciate the joy that the ancient act of gathering around a fire with family and friends brings many of us in our community, as I have learned to accept and appreciate those who enjoy watching their dogs run around on a beach. We often learn most about ourselves when we open our minds and hearts to those as when who upon first glance appear as our adversaries…
God bless…
August 10, 2016 at 8:19 am #853965
newnativeParticipantI grew up with fire, so it’s not about learning anything. Thanks for the condescending lecture. It’s about having asthma and not being able to breathe the air when there are that many fires going in one small place.
August 10, 2016 at 3:47 pm #854007
anonymeParticipantThis is not about god, Neanderthals, or opening our hearts to neighbors who would poison us with carcinogenic smoke that causes a range of serious health conditions ranging from asthma to heart attacks. And while more people are immediately and adversely affected by second hand smoke (regardless of the source) in a densely populated area, it almost appears that certain people are unaware of the fact that our atmosphere is a CLOSED system. Is it the science denial thing? Pollution does not ‘disappear’ just because some smoke from burning driftwood blows away down the beach, where an off-leash dog is ripping apart some poor baby seal. I find the presentation of this scenario in the context of a joyful family gathering to be disturbing.
August 10, 2016 at 8:30 pm #854023
angelescrestParticipantCondescending and mean-spirited, AHex. We’re so tightly packed here: I am occasionally smoked out by neighbors on all sides, who I am sure, would not be happy to put out the flames despite the fact I’m left gasping from asthma. I’ve tried. There are the respectful and kind and care-about-each-other contingent, and then there are the ¨too bad–I’ll do as I please¨ gang, and that goes for fire pits, dogs on leashes (or not), etc.
I’m gonna keep going for spreading the good juju!August 11, 2016 at 1:16 pm #854098
DickParticipantJFC, somebody call the whaaaambulance! Some of the resident whiners are upset about something AGAIN!!! What did you people do before you had the internet to “air” your grievences with society and your neighbors? LOL
August 11, 2016 at 2:47 pm #854130
miwsParticipantDick, so comments from people relating the effect that smoke has on their asthma is “whining”?
(Asthma and COPD here, BTW)
Mike
August 11, 2016 at 3:07 pm #854133
newnativeParticipantWhatever, I complained to the nearest person who wanted to go somewhere that I couldn’t. I only chimed in because I agree with some of the people here who can’t tolerate some outdoor fires. I live in a business district so don’t deal with backyard fires or fireplaces as much. However, I have come to prefer the winters for going to Alki.
August 11, 2016 at 3:08 pm #854134
DickParticipantSorry about your condition, but yeah, I am. Especially the part about the beach.
August 11, 2016 at 3:29 pm #854138
anonymeParticipantIt’s always amusing when someone comes on the blog to whine and complain that someone else had the AUDACITY to complain about something that they don’t agree with. You cave men so funny.
August 11, 2016 at 4:56 pm #854147
miwsParticipantDick, I’ll use this…
…but yeah, I am. Especially the part about the beach
…as an indicator to my perception of the sincerity of this…
Sorry about your condition…
Mike
August 12, 2016 at 10:07 am #854218
JanSParticipantyo, Dick…living up to your name, I see…
August 12, 2016 at 10:54 am #854227
WhaleParticipantI love having backyard fires, and i have asthma too! I hope all of you are quiet during the city’s mandated quiet hours. Nothing gets my goat more than people who make noise between 10p-7a. I can hear my neighbors on the other side of the walls in my apartment, even when they are just talking at a normal volume. Then I can’t sleep, and then i’m groggy at work, and then i call in sick, and then risk losing my job which BTW is what enables me be a productive taxpayer! Please stop talking, all of you, between 10p-7a!
August 12, 2016 at 11:47 am #854230
miwsParticipantDon’t worry, Whale, most nights I’m in, or close to being in bed by around 10:00 pm until around 5:15 am. (I *do* try to keep reasonably quiet during those early hours I’m up).
Also, I’m on a BiPap machine, so although it produces a bit of a white noise, it (presumably) keeps me from snoring. So save for the occasional coughing due to a chronic cough, I should be mostly quiet during the most important sleeping hours!
Mike
August 15, 2016 at 5:33 pm #854570
GreystreetParticipantThankfully we live in Arbor Heights and have a bit of a yard, but our neighbors complained once because our backyard fire was wafting into their home, so we gladly knocked the fire down to more coals and decreased the smoke; however, I paid a lot for that fire pit to be installed and probably won’t NOT enjoy my patio and fire pit based on my neighbors. I understand all of the ranting about asthma/COPD (I’m a nurse); but if not breaking the law then kindly move on…I’m beginning to think that West Seattle should be renamed “Passively-Aggressively-Politically-Correct-Peninsula”
August 15, 2016 at 11:30 pm #854592
jazzParticipantI like fires. I even have a fire pit, but I haven’t had reason to use it yet. And one reason I haven’t had a good enough reason, is because I realize they do pollute and smoke travels into neighboring yards. I really wasn’t aware how strong campfire smoke could be until a neighbor (not sure exactly who) started having a fire four or five nights in a row on on the hottest nights we’ve had this summer. So yeah, as soon as things are cooling down and I want to throw every window in the house open the fire starts up. Then it gets trapped in the house after I run around and close all the windows because my lungs are starting to burn. I don’t no what the answer is, but please fire pit lovers use moderation. Maybe make it a special occasional thing and not an every night thing. Or do it on a cool night when everybody’s windows are closed.
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