gtarman Posted October 13, 2012 WTF, is there anything anybody can do without breaking the law these days. Had a REALLY shitty day today, so I was already hating life and all my positivity was spent, and I decided I was just gonna try leave it behind me and clean up the yard, so after dark I start burning off some dried garden waste - it's a big property, and I've done a lot of weeding the last few months. After a while this neighbour (I assume) who I've never seen before comes up and starts yelling at me, telling me that I'm "smoking out the neighbourhood" and that its illegal to have a fire in your backyard, and berated me for being "such an inconsiderate person". I just thought I'd vent on here (sorry!), but shit, he was a real douchebag about it, and I really could have done without that today. All he needed to do was politely say it was a problem and I would have put it out (which I did anyway). But no, he has to make it all personal and get aggressive towards me. To be honest I have heard that it was illegal (although I didn't tell him that, he was being enough of a dick already), but I'm from the country, and it seems absolutely stupid to me that you can't have a fire in your own backyard. I mean it's not like smoke's even that much of an issue - just shut your damn window if it bothers you so much. I was standing 3 feet from the thing and it didn't do me any harm. Ugghh. What a shitty, shitty, shitty day. Lucky we have a meet tomorrow...might be a better day hopefully 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rahli Posted October 13, 2012 (edited) Yeah, sounds like he was venting some other frustration onto you also. It's pretty standard not to smoke out the neighbourhood. Smoke and ash also fucks washing and folks could be either doing the load agian or smelling like a camp fire for a week. And it stinks out the whole joint. Pretty unessicary really, unless of cause your trying to piss off the neighbours. But the guy does sound like a tool and he doen't mind pissing off the neibours too much either. Edited October 13, 2012 by rahli 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
goneski Posted October 13, 2012 Fire is illegal because it's witchcraft... duh 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Halcyon Daze Posted October 13, 2012 Campfires are not illegal unless there is a fire ban etc. A camp fire is classed as being smaller than 2m X 2m I think (Contact your local fire brigade/authority). I usually burn at night so no-one notices the smoke as much. There are ways to avoid creating smoke such as not burning green or semi-dry material. Next time your neighbour comes tell him to speak respectfully or piss off. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sallubrious Posted October 13, 2012 (edited) In a lot of districts it is illegal to burn off rubbish these days. Most places it still OK to build a fire to cook on though barring any fire bans. I'd get a camp oven and keep it handy and then if he comes whinging tell him it's a cooking fire and show him the camp oven. Like the others said he must be a highly strung type so keep it civil and he can go and root his boot. Edited October 13, 2012 by SallyD Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gtarman Posted October 13, 2012 (edited) @Rahli: I can understand that the smoke could be annoying in that regard, but to be honest I hadn't really thought it would be such a big issue. I guess that's another thing about having grown up in the country - we don't get our knickers in a knot about stuff like that where I'm from. And we DEFINITELY don't speak to our neighbours like that. But at the same time I could see why he was upset, even if he was being a douche, which is why I put the fire out instead of telling him to fuck off. That and I was afraid he might call the fire brigade or something. That would have really topped off my day! But yeah I just checked the Brisbane council website and it looks like it is against the rules. But it also says that I can get a free greenwaste recycling bin, so I'm just going to do that instead...though it will take a long time to get through that pile of garden waste. Might need two bins. And thanks for your responses guys, I always get good advice on here (with the exception of max cady's post ), and it always seems to cheer me up when I've had a bad day. I really appreciate it, and I'm sure with a little sleep under my belt and the Brisbane meet on tomorrow I can still turn this weekend around. Edited October 13, 2012 by gtarman 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
.dg Posted October 13, 2012 (edited) poison his pets ^well aint that a bitch idea, wtf? gtarman: sounds like a good excuse to make a compost pile Edited October 13, 2012 by dg420 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
whitewind Posted October 13, 2012 I had the same issue when I first moved to Aus, and I was like, well, it's in a fucking city so I'm not going to be causing a bush-fire surely! We must create more CO2 by shipping green waste around then creating methane by composting it en masse, then adding more CO2 by putting pavers down (concrete is one of the biggest contributors to CO2 production, apparently)! But there is also the asthma issue (which is mostly about pollution, but smoke can trigger an attack). We had a house fire a while back and I breathed in some nasty smoke, and had to quit smoking because I had serious difficulties; now smoke and thick diesel smoke can trigger a mild attack very quickly. City air is already toxic, so fires would only add to it - and if every other person had a small fire regularly, you can imagine how it would build up. Your nazi neighbour probably has some personal issues; it shouldn't be hard to avoid them - just look menacing, answer in grunts only, chew grass regularly and wield your axe like a pro (or just vigorously) - and they will think twice about approaching. If not, consider moving to another suburb as they will be more tapped than you look. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
quarterflesh Posted October 13, 2012 Or just take your green waste to the dump, its free and all. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
santiago Posted October 14, 2012 (edited) i get the irony gtarman, asthma....its ok to have a million cars and trucks spewing venom at any one given moment, its ok for factories to be pumping it too...but one lil man with one lil fire, you naughty boy. edit-info this info might be good local only i think it says SA, take note personal comfort, cooking subsection 1, burning off subsection 5. http://users.chariot.net.au/~allan/regulations.htm Edited October 14, 2012 by santiago 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ThunderIdeal Posted October 14, 2012 i'm not sure if dumping green waste is free in brisbane, residents get some vouchers but generally speaking brisbane city charges people for the privelage of not dumping their shit into bushland, which i think we can all agree, is just a really intelligent policy. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
quarterflesh Posted October 14, 2012 ha, suck's to be living in the big city 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jonny Deformed Posted October 14, 2012 As awesome as fire is, I'd be composting it...Ain't no such thing as waste. compost the mouthy neighbour while you're at it. Or next time tell him it's a BBQ and to run along aka fuck off. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gtarman Posted October 15, 2012 (edited) Ha. Yeah I prolly will if he speaks like that to me again, he just caught me at a rare vulnerable moment haha. Although composting it is pretty much outta the question - it's mostly made up of farmers friend, invasive nightshades and various other undesirables that will keep springing back to life until I get the devil-spawn into a different location or state of matter. Edited October 15, 2012 by gtarman Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
