Speaking as a full time firefighter, this kinda thing is a pain in the butt.
We get called to these fires for people burning off rubbish, sometimes at ridiculous times of the day, and they clearly have no consideration for others whatsoever.
Then a neighbour calls it in because it is giving off thick black smoke and annoying them just because they dont want to close their windows for an hour or so.
Then it ends up getting to a full on domestic dispute between neighbours over something so silly, when a bit of common sense would have saved the day.
I've lost count of the number of times I've had to get police involvement in this type of incident because of the way it escalates.
Sadly, we no longer have any legal standing in this area like we once did either. That means we have to refer people to their local enviromental health who are the only ones who can take enforcement action, but of course they dont work evenings and weekends, so it rumbles on and on, and we end up with several calls between neighbours at war over something so stupid.
A little consideration for the neighbours, and the effects this can have on emergency services which are already stretched to breaking limit, would go a long way.
/rant over
icard
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