OT: Bonfires

[Mark]

We've had a problem from bonfires for years now and I would be grateful for ideas on tracing their source. Many times during still dry weather someone lights bonfire(s) at dusk, the smoke of which invades my house and makes me cough violently.

I'd like to find the culprit and politely ask them to stop this foul practice. Unfortunately all attempts I have made to locate the source have failed. The bonfires are lit around dusk so it is difficult to see where the smoke is coming from. The problem is only evident on still nights so the wind direction is not easy to detect. I have walked around but, apart from a generally smoky atmosphere, I can't find where it is coming from. I don't believe it can be very far away owing to the strength of the smell.

I'd be grateful for some new ideas on how to trace this so I can get some sleep (can't now due to coughing). This week we have had two on consecutive nights. There does not seem to be a pattern to this. I can't imagine why anyone would need to burn much here. This is an estate with small gardens & we have a fortnightly collection of garden waste.

[Nitromax®]

AFAIA there is nothing illegal in garden bonfires, unless you suspect a hazardous material is being burned?

In future I would suggest you stay indoors and close your windows, if the smoke affects you that badly then wandering the streets looking for the source will not help much.

Check your local council website and maybe give them a call and see if anything can be done on a nuisance basis?

[Cicero]

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Is there a Council incinerator anywhere in the vicinity?

The smell from such a source can travel quite a distance and as far as I know the preferred operating time is a night.

Cic.

[Mark]

It's still a nuisance, whether it is illegal or not.

I do close my windows when it happens, but houses are not airtight. Once it is in the house it is not quick to clear since I can't open the windows.

I very much doubt they will do anything unless I can find the source.

[Nitromax®]

Maybe they are burning body parts from interfering neighbours?

The council is your first port of call, if you are not prepared to file a complaint regardless of identifiying the culprit, then there is little else you can do.

Even if you found the source and asked politely for them to cease, they equally have the option to politely tell you where to go.

[Bill Wright]

I suggest you try to be a bit more tolerant. The smoke from a bonfire can't be all that bad. The trouble these days is that there are a lot of people like you who have no tolerance of others. With some people it's any excuse to interfere with other peoples lives. Live and let live I say. I expect you drive your car down the street and create invisible fumes that get into peoples houses. I expect you use electricity and thus help pollute the gardens of those who live near power stations.

It's the same round here. This is an agricultural district yet incomers complain to the council about the smell of manure! They shouldn't have moved here! This isn't the middle of a city.

People should mind their own business. I had a complaint from a bloke who lived half a mile away. I was having a fire to get rid of the results of grubbing out an orchard. He wanted to have a barby in his backyard. He actually left his guests to come round here and have a barney. I said, "Well your barby will be smokng your street out!" In the end I just told him to f*ck off.

Bill

[1501]

I admire your tact and diplomacy. ' way to go!

[AlanD]

I live in a 'smoke free' area (Luton, Beds) where the council actively enforce the policy. We had a nearby house regularly burning stuff including plastic and cycle tyres, resulting in noxious fumes over the summer - when we had windows open. After a previous unpleasant run-in with them over this I contacted the council, who in turn contacted him advising if they had any further reports of bonfires then they would fine him. So far, so good.

For the OP trying to locate the bonfire, maybe you should find your local helicopter training school and get a 'trial flight' - over your neighbourhood to find the evidence of the bonfires!

Alan.

[Frank Erskine]

On Sat, 19 Sep 2009 09:41:29 +0100, "AlanD" had this to say:

Normally a 'smoke-free' policy only covers smoke from chimneys - bonfires are exempt.

[Mark]

There's no council incinerators anywhere near here.

[Mark]

I am quite prepared to file a complaint if necessary. However I believe it would be more neighbourly to have a polite word first.

Indeed but I would like to give them a chance.

[Tim Lamb]

I suppose it could be someone burning *waste* on a conventional domestic hearth. Lots of entrained cold air leading to low flue gas temperatures and drifting rather than rising smoke.

The worst thing here is smouldering stable waste. Probably illegal now.

regards

>

[pete]

Talking about neighbours - have you spoken to any of them to find out if they know who the source is, or if they're bothered by it, too? While the bonfire-maker might decide that a single complaint from just you can be ignored, he/she might see things differently if a (non-threatening, of course) delegation asked for them to stop.

[OG]

Though many councils have by-laws that limit when bonfires can be lit - for example, not before 7.30pm so taint drying laundry hanging on washing lines.

[The Natural Philosopher]

worst thing here is cubic kilometers of whet dust laden with fungal spores.

I am sure I have farmers lung. The bastards sit in their filtered positive pressure cabins enjoying the day while the GPS and lasers track them neatly up and down..

[Nitromax®]

Can you point me in the direction of any of these by-laws? I looked into bonfires a few months back and could find nothing regarding restrictions of times etc.

[Frank Erskine]

On Sat, 19 Sep 2009 12:41:10 GMT, "Nitromax®" had this to say:

Look at your LA's website. Obviously different councils have different bye-laws.

[Roger Chapman]

If there is truly no wind then there is nothing to move the smoke on and the source must be very close to your home. Tim could well be right. Next door burning waste in house on a still day with a temperature inversion above would be bound to produce the conditions you describe. However said source of smoke must still have a centre and diminish as you move away from it so you should be able to plot its position by considering the extent of the smoke.

It seems odd to me that your neighbour only uses the rare occasions of absolute lack of wind to have his fires. Prevailing wind is from the west so perhaps you are just to the east of the source and don't notice when the smoke is blown away from you. My neighbours always seem to have their bonfires when the wind is in the West and yes, you've guessed, I live on the east edge of a built-up area.

[Dave]

That depends on how your chest reacts to foreign object debris (FOD) If the OP has a chest like mine, he has every right to try and get rid of the aggravation of the smoke.

I suffered the same a few short years ago and I couldn't find the source either. I suspected an industrial unit, but I couldn't pin it down even on a calm summers evening, when you naturally have your windows open :-(

Ever since I was seven years old I have only lived one or two streets away from the country. At one time I lived quite close to a pig farm and on the wrong days we had to put up with the smell. Fortunately, that doesn't affect my lungs like smoke does. It was only 5 years ago that I dared to buy a diesel engined car.

Before the cleaner ones came out, my lungs felt as if they had shrunk in my chest when I got a whiff off their exhausts.

Yes, they do tend to do that. :-( I hate the smell of them, but my lungs are OK with them.

Dave

[Bob Eager]

That could be hairy..!