Home › Forums › Open Discussion › Recreational Fires
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April 19, 2017 at 11:56 am #880422
RoxHillShaneParticipantI’m a new’ish resident to west seattle, having moved to Rox Hill last fall. Since then, we’ve been visited by the fire department 3 times for our fire pit. The first two times, they looked through the fence (wouldn’t come in after inviting them in to look at the covered fire pit, with hose near by), and went on with their day. No request to extinguish it.
The most recent time was this past Monday, April 18th. We just finished demo’ing the fence in the front yard, so it was visible to everyone (which is why I suspect a more cantankerous neighbor might be in play). This time, they got out, entourage and all, and looked around. I use a steel fire pit, and I had built my own screen since the one that came with it was a P.O.S. and required repair after a couple uses. The SFD stated that unless I intended to cook on it, then it wasn’t legal and needed to be extinguished (which I did). After a few days of some research, that is not what I’ve found to be true….
http://www.seattle.gov/fire/FMO/firecode/cam/5022CAM%20RecreationalFires.pdf
That link goes into the 2014 rules for recreational fires per the SFD. I was in compliance with each of those rules…
Does anyone have any thoughts/opinions on why having a fire pit in this city seems like such a hassle? Do people just not burn in this city? It’s cathartic! And fun! And cozy! What’s a responsible pyro to do?!?
April 19, 2017 at 12:47 pm #880433
myownbizParticipantRoxhillShane…give yourself a few minutes or maybe hours but I’m sure you’ll get a lot of feedback on this question of yours especially from the huggers and granola eaters we have on this fair peninsula of ours !
April 19, 2017 at 1:21 pm #880438
buttercupParticipantI had someone report me also. Granted it was summer, I also use a grate, and my put was Terra cottage and has a special fireproof asbestos pad under it. Your right, it does ruin the evening, in my case a special birthday party, ( no alcohol). People complain about the smoke invading their space.They can shut the windows quite easily but it seems they would rather spoil special times for others. Mine were out before 10 in observance of noise regulations.Such a shame that some people are unable to be happy for others occasionally.. I put up with 2 neighbors who both have roosters, to keep peace among us. Why don’t people just be a little flexible. I get tired and discouraged with all the bickering and botching that happens out here.
April 19, 2017 at 2:48 pm #880442
newnativeParticipantEasy, print out the rules and keep them and a supply of bacon on hand the next time you burn.
April 19, 2017 at 5:04 pm #880453
anonymeParticipantWhy the hell should someone have to lock up all their windows in summertime just to keep from being asphyxiated by your toxic, polluting smoke? Even that doesn’t work; smoke is a gas, geniuses, and walls and closed windows won’t keep it all out. It may be fine while you’re sitting on your drunk a$$ out in the open air, but once it comes inside it’s not only noxious – it’s dangerous. Inhaling your smoke can cause asthma attacks and even heart attacks. Do your really think your little cozy fun time is more important than other people’s right to breathe – or even live? Jeez, can you smell the entitlement in the air?
I read the regulations recently as I have several burners nearby – most with illegal fire pits (too close to a structure, fires too big). I’ve watched these idiots with their sparks flying everywhere, smoke billowing, toddlers in danger of falling into the pit. Discovered that burners are REQUIRED by law to put out the fire if asked by a neighbor. I’ll be doing a LOT more of that this year. No more choking inside a sweltering, locked up house just so that you all can get your Neanderthal on.
Whatever happened to giving a care how your actions affect your neighbors? The attitude that anyone who doesn’t support you having FUN, no matter what the cost to others, is selfish and juvenile.
April 20, 2017 at 8:17 am #880499
Michael WaldoParticipantIf you can keep the smoke in your yard, cool. other wise, think about your neighbor. We had a couple next door who would burn uncured wood and a heavy, stinky fire would force us to close all our windows during a warm days. They moved, thank god.
April 20, 2017 at 1:18 pm #880559
Wes C. AddleParticipantSo where do BBQ’s/Grills land in this discussion? Are we cool with people cooking food and not fires in firepits?
April 22, 2017 at 12:54 am #880745
JanSParticipantmy first thought is…a neighbor who, at this time of year , has a fire in her fireplace on cool, chilly mornings. And yes, we can smell it all over the neighborhood. I actually like the smell, and I will not begrudge her a little smoky fire so she can be warm. It’s not 24-7, just a couple of hours…no big deal.
Oh, and Anonyme? Drunk ass? The guy said there was no alcohol…you are ASSuming too much, or maybe it’s just YOUR neighbors…
Wes…the guy in the apartment downstairs likes to cook with charcoal in the summertime on his grill, just below my deck…the chicken smells wonderful…wish he’d invite me. What I do mind, though, is neighbors who stand outside and smoke, and it wafts in my window…now that I can’t stand (we are a non-smoking building). We all have our burden to bear, it seems…
April 22, 2017 at 5:59 am #880755
JoBParticipant“unless you are cooking something on it…”
try s’mores ?April 22, 2017 at 5:59 am #880756
JoBParticipanti think the bigger problem is that people aren’t talking with their neighbors much…
perhaps your next fire would be a good opportunity to invite them overApril 22, 2017 at 10:59 am #880757
JustthinkinParticipantJanS…I like the way you think :)
Anonyme…from this comment and some of your other posts that I’ve read I think you may have anger issues…just thinkin’…
April 22, 2017 at 11:58 pm #880822
buttercupParticipantAnother, I can say the same about you and your care for your neighbors, you want all to bow to you and your ways. We don’t burn every night, usually 2 or 3 times a month for 3 or 4 months. We have rights also. We all have choices to make, BTW, your alcohol comment was ignorant. Kinda matches your post. Have a blessed evening.
April 23, 2017 at 8:03 am #880835
mark47nParticipantThe rules are illuminating. I especially like the 20′ diameter is large, if your using a properly built fireplace or 50′ diameter of area without combustibles. That’s a lot of space. I would imagine that it’s hard for many yards to accommodate that.
We live in a city, not some rural area with some acreage. We don’t burn garbage, burn piles for leaves, and we don’t burn coal or wood for heat. Recreational fires are just that: recreational. The boob tube of the primitive world.
On camping trips I watch people start their fires at dawn and keep them burning most of the night. They stare into it, throw stuff in it and their smoke wafts into my minimalist site and makes my gear reek. I can’t do anything about their large fires there but to say that I have to tolerate my house reeking of smoke is something altogether different.
I don’t have to tolerate loud music after certain hours. I don’t have to tolerate someones eternally barking dog and I don’t have to tolerate someones runoff polluting my yard (yes, I’ve had that issue in my past). With all of this why on earth would I have to tolerate someone’s open fire? If you tell me that you built a smoker and you’re smoking something I could be more tolerant (fire with intent) but just so you can be in proximity and it meets some primal need for a security blanket? No, I don’t need that, my house doesn’t need that and your desire for a fire doesn’t trump (how appropriate) my rights, either.
For myself, I tend to be a direct action sort of guy. I’ll ask first and then I’ll drown out your fire loving party with bagpipes. After all, I have a right to enjoy my bagpipes at a volume that permeates your home they way your smoke permeates mine.
April 23, 2017 at 12:05 pm #880850
PLSParticipantYour rights extend only to the point where another’s are encroached. My passive right to have clean air supersedes your active right to have an open fire pit in your yard. Period. The moment your fire’s smoke crosses your property line your rights are extinguished, as it were. If you like the ambiance of the fire pit, get a gas one. Or go camping. But open wood fires in a tightly packed residential neighborhood is terribly disrespectful to those around you.
April 25, 2017 at 5:21 pm #881015
GreystreetParticipantI’m just going to play Devil’s advocate here as I have stopped trying to argue with folks on this blog as it’s truly akin to herding cats. So open fires waft smoke in unpredictable directions, what about homes with wood burners that burn wood all day, every day throughout the colder months, their chimney’s may have a directional spout on the top but that smoke still permeates the “right to clean air” previously mentioned. So I guess my question is, when are we going to stop with the apples to oranges? Whether it’s an open wood burning fire pit, a charcoal grill, or a wood burning stove in a home, it’s ALL SMOKE, so who gets to be the judge and jury on purposeful smoke? Don’t even get me started on the 4th of July…
April 26, 2017 at 5:16 pm #881078
ellipsesParticipantI love having fire pit night and plan on doing so tonight!
April 29, 2017 at 7:01 pm #881391
whalewatcherParticipantMy neighbors’ fire pit was the bane of my existence. The smoke was so bad that I had to sometimes leave my house. (They were unresponsive to my pleas).
Why on earth would neighbors be so selfish? Their right to enjoy themselves is more important than my right to stay in my own home?
We’re all trying to coexist here!
April 30, 2017 at 10:38 pm #881491
AHexpatParticipantHi RoxHillShane, welcome to the neighborhood! I’m sorry you have had to deal with what a lot of us around here have gone through, both on the forums and in “real life.” If you replaced “having a fire” with “walking my dog on the beach” you would generate just as much outrage in the opposite direction. As you are aware, having a small fire in your yard is not illegal, but taking your dogs to the beach is. Funny that people never really seem to get that, though. “My precious Fido just loves swimming in the water, pooping in the same sand children play in, and harassing the defenseless baby seals!” Dog feces are every bit as much of a health risk to those of us with compromised immune systems as smoke from a recreational fire is, but you’d be hard-pressed to prove that to the scientists here in the forums. I’d love to see what would happen if somehow a group of special fur babies got together and had a small recreational fire. I’m pretty sure the WSB would literally explode.
I think following newnative’s suggestion is probably the best course of action to deal with nosey “neighbors” calling SFD on you for legally enjoying yourself. I’d also take a page from JoB and have some s’mores on deck that you can offer to the hardworking firefighters then next time they stop by.
Anonyme, if you can pull yourself away riding your caps lock key and sniffing your own entitlement like the sad little keyboard cowboy we all know that you are, can you enlighten us as to where it says you are “REQUIRED” to put out a fire if one of your neighbors tells you to?
May 1, 2017 at 1:05 pm #881522
KBearParticipantIf you need to have frequent backyard campfires, city living is not for you. Seattle has enough problems with air pollution without unnecessary burning contributing to it. Your neighbors’ right to clean air trumps any right you have to recreational burning, and it is YOU who are wasting the Fire Department’s time, not the neighbors who rightly reported you.
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