Wood Burning Help Needed

Starlight · May 31, 2015

I have some not so nice folks at some times next to me and I am worried about what his wood burning is going to do to my tomatoes and peppers.

From all the rain, of course the ground got saturated and flooded all the holes we have here from critters and so the snakes are exceptional bad this year.

Friday , about 11:30 pm his one dog started a crazy bark and wouldn't stop. He went out and killed another copperhead that was in the front yard by flowers on open dirt and had already killed early in the day a Coral snake and last night moving some pots just a few feet from my shade house I had another copperhead.

Next door has a pile of wood from where they cut down a huge Oak tree. He has had it all staked up nice and neat but it near the area where we are finding so many snakes. He told me last night that he is going to move it and start burning it.

This is a guy who starts fires and doesn't hang around to make sure they don't go anywhere's or burn the neighborhood woods down. Makes me so mad. Never has a bucket of water or a hose anywhere's.

He told me where he is planning on burning. About 15 -20 ' from my covered in plastic gh, plus where I have almost all my tomatoes which are covered in blossoms and starting to fruit.

Does, anybody know, what the heat from off will do to my tomatoes. Any idea how far away the fire is going to need to be to keep my plants safe. Telling him we have a burn ban going on is not going to stop him and he's to lazy to take to the dump which is only about 10 minutes away.

Of course he making sure the fire is plenty far enough away from his tomatoes and peppers.

I am massively afraid of our snakes here too , cuz if we get bitten it is lights out as no way would emt's arrive in time and don't even think there is any anti-venom around at nearest hospital.

I just paid to have a trailer load of wood debris away when electrical man replacing security light reached down and I thought he had found a plant he liked or something and he came up with a shedded snake skin instead

and I couldn't safely burn it.

jmsieglaff · May 31, 2015

I've had some huge bonfires and I've had grass kill extend out about 4-5' from the fire, but beyond that the grass was fine. I would think 20' away won't hurt your plants. I would have concern about hot embers landing on your plastic greenhouse and melting holes in it. I would express that concern and let him know what the cost is to replace the greenhouse plastic, because if that were to happen that should be coming out of his pocketbook, not yours.

Salsacharley · May 31, 2015

With a ban on burning in effect his big fire should catch the attention of the fire authorities. I know in my area that any smoke rising will draw the fire department and that isn't something you want.

AlittleSalt · May 31, 2015

Starlight, It depends on big of a fire it is going to be. If he piles it up in a big bonfire and sets it all on fire - I would be very concerned. If he burns it slow - it should be alright.

bughunter99 · May 31, 2015

Have you asked him to relocate his burning pile to an area that won't impact your greenhouse?

If there is a burn ban in place and he starts burning, call the cops if his burning is impacting your property. However if your plants are inside a greenhouse I am a little unclear how they are going to be hurt.

Bipetual · May 31, 2015

Star, I wouldn't feel too bad reporting him for burning. Those restrictions are in place for a reason. Either it's dry and he's risking starting a wildfire, which would put you and your home in danger, or it's for health reasons. There are so many people with lung problems and children with asthma. I normally figure if I wouldn't say something to someone's face I wouldn't report them. But all the particulate in wood smoke is really bad for people with lung disease. If it were legal, well, there wouldn't be much you could do. But if it's not it's for a darn good reason. And once it gets going and everyone can see it, there's no reason to be sure it was you who called. It's your choice, of course. But I think it's a legitimate option.

seaeagle · May 31, 2015

A copperhead bite rarely causes death and only then when someone has an allergic reaction, sorta like when people have allergic reaction to bee stings.Sounds more like neighbors that just don't like each other.You complained about his woodpile so he is going to burn it close to your greenhouse.Don't call the authorities , unless you want to make the situation worse. just my opinion

ermentrude · May 31, 2015

Maybe you noted it wrong, but if he's going to burn 15-20" (inches) from your greenhouse, that is going to be a problem and I would tell him that up front. If it is 15-20' (feet), that will likely be OK but you'll need to watch for embers as noted above. Good luck, having a neighbor you don't see eye to eye with is a challenge.

Father'sDaughter · May 31, 2015

If it's large enough and close enough, I'd be concerned with the heat melting the plastic on your greenhouse. Maybe point out the potential damage to your greenhouse and ask him to move his burn pile elsewhere. If he declines, maybe let him know how much he'll have to pay to replace it if the heat from his fire destroys it.

clkeiper · May 31, 2015

I was wondering about the distance, too. Inches or feet? We burn the garden debris and tree prunings in the Spring... but with care and caution... about 30 feet from my structures. I try to do so when there isn't much wind blowing towards my houses. The ashes won't hurt your garden or tomatoes, though. I dump my wood ashes in the garden from the fire all winter long. I just give my ash tray a big swing and spread it as far as I can, but I have even dumped them in piles and plants grow right through them. On the other hand if there is a safety issue going on and there is imminent danger and the fire department needs to be called he may be financially responsible for all the damage. Go take time stamped pictures of your plastic now, before he burns anything, though. You won't be able to prove his fire did any damage if you don't have any proof of the date of the damage and what it looked like before/after. I was driving home in the dark last week in an interstate. I don't know if the truck in the next lane farther ahead kicked up a rock or the car that passed us tossed something out, but it hit my husbands 1 ton work truck and destroyed the window. I was thankful it hit between his side and mine because the next day in the day light you could see all the glass fragments all over the seat between us. How could I prove who did it... I couldn't see where it came from. We had to suck up and pay to replace the window.

pauldavid · May 31, 2015

Star, I would be out there with a water hose or something for sure. If its wet he might put diesel or something on it to help it burn. I would tell him your concerns.

Starlight · May 31, 2015

I appreciate all the help and advice. I am glad the feet instead of inches was spotted. I didn't even notice that, was more concerned and upset over what he would possibly do.

Bad thing is we are out in the middle of the county and all we have is a volunteer fire department. Sometimes not even that. One year guy down on the corner had leaves and grass clippings in a metal trash can in middle of his grassed yard. He tried to use it like a burn can and spark got the dried grass and set up a big fire that spread like crazy. Took 45 minutes to get from two towns away fire department out. Those of us home were grabbing our hoses to connect to a neighbors hose to try and keep it from spreading as much as we could. Fire got so close to his neighbors animals and we knew we couldn't stop it from running and turned all his animals loose so they wouldn't die. Was a pain trying to capture them later , but they were safe.

We've had three major fires just in our neighborhood from folks not burning right or sparks flaring back up and flying days later and almost burning homes.

Generally, we all burn here. We have to. We're heavily wooded and loaded with huge and very old Oaks and Hickories mainly and the odd pines. We use what we can for mulches but when you have an excess you have to do something. Most of us are very very careful and even then things happen.

Most of the time neighbor and I get along fine. I taught them how to sow seed, have given plants and pots and any help. Just get mad and frustrated when they do something to endanger the rest of us.

Year before last the neighbor on other side called fire department on them. They thought it was me. They set huge and I mean huge fire right under and next to a group of trees. It caught the trees on fire, flames shooting out the top. Fire department had to use two trucks to put the fire out. Sheriff's told him no more burning like that. Soon as they all left he started fire right back up again.

Even I two years back for the first time ever had one get away from me and I had a spotter. Had a 8 ' long 2 'wide and 1 1/2" high line I was burning. Which is usually what I always do. Don't know if it was a spark that blew up and set a neighbors yard on fire or from my spotter just tossed his cig butt. But it burned bad and fast. Lucky they got to it just before it got to several big propane tanks. That way a nightmare and a half I don't ever want to have to go through again.

Good ideas. I am going to talk to him and see if he'll move the pile back a bit to burn and take pics of my gh and surrounding yard and hopefully where he burning just in case. I'll see if I can borrow some more hoses from other neighbor just in case I need em.

I'm glad to know that you think my plants will be ok at that distance in case he won't move back further. I have gone through so much already to get my tomatoes this far, I sure don't want to lose them now at this stage. I would sit right down on the ground and cry my heart out if I came out and seen I had crispy crunchy leaves and burned plants.

May 31, 2015	#1
Starlight Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: AL Posts: 1,993	Wood Burning Help Needed I have some not so nice folks at some times next to me and I am worried about what his wood burning is going to do to my tomatoes and peppers. From all the rain, of course the ground got saturated and flooded all the holes we have here from critters and so the snakes are exceptional bad this year. Friday , about 11:30 pm his one dog started a crazy bark and wouldn't stop. He went out and killed another copperhead that was in the front yard by flowers on open dirt and had already killed early in the day a Coral snake and last night moving some pots just a few feet from my shade house I had another copperhead. Next door has a pile of wood from where they cut down a huge Oak tree. He has had it all staked up nice and neat but it near the area where we are finding so many snakes. He told me last night that he is going to move it and start burning it. This is a guy who starts fires and doesn't hang around to make sure they don't go anywhere's or burn the neighborhood woods down. Makes me so mad. Never has a bucket of water or a hose anywhere's. He told me where he is planning on burning. About 15 -20 ' from my covered in plastic gh, plus where I have almost all my tomatoes which are covered in blossoms and starting to fruit. Does, anybody know, what the heat from off will do to my tomatoes. Any idea how far away the fire is going to need to be to keep my plants safe. Telling him we have a burn ban going on is not going to stop him and he's to lazy to take to the dump which is only about 10 minutes away. Of course he making sure the fire is plenty far enough away from his tomatoes and peppers. I am massively afraid of our snakes here too , cuz if we get bitten it is lights out as no way would emt's arrive in time and don't even think there is any anti-venom around at nearest hospital. I just paid to have a trailer load of wood debris away when electrical man replacing security light reached down and I thought he had found a plant he liked or something and he came up with a shedded snake skin instead and I couldn't safely burn it. Last edited by Starlight; May 31, 2015 at 05:13 PM. Reason: changed inches to feet

May 31, 2015	#10
clkeiper Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: ohio Posts: 4,350	I was wondering about the distance, too. Inches or feet? We burn the garden debris and tree prunings in the Spring... but with care and caution... about 30 feet from my structures. I try to do so when there isn't much wind blowing towards my houses. The ashes won't hurt your garden or tomatoes, though. I dump my wood ashes in the garden from the fire all winter long. I just give my ash tray a big swing and spread it as far as I can, but I have even dumped them in piles and plants grow right through them. On the other hand if there is a safety issue going on and there is imminent danger and the fire department needs to be called he may be financially responsible for all the damage. Go take time stamped pictures of your plastic now, before he burns anything, though. You won't be able to prove his fire did any damage if you don't have any proof of the date of the damage and what it looked like before/after. I was driving home in the dark last week in an interstate. I don't know if the truck in the next lane farther ahead kicked up a rock or the car that passed us tossed something out, but it hit my husbands 1 ton work truck and destroyed the window. I was thankful it hit between his side and mine because the next day in the day light you could see all the glass fragments all over the seat between us. How could I prove who did it... I couldn't see where it came from. We had to suck up and pay to replace the window. __________________ carolyn k

May 31, 2015	#12
Starlight Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: AL Posts: 1,993	I appreciate all the help and advice. I am glad the feet instead of inches was spotted. I didn't even notice that, was more concerned and upset over what he would possibly do. Bad thing is we are out in the middle of the county and all we have is a volunteer fire department. Sometimes not even that. One year guy down on the corner had leaves and grass clippings in a metal trash can in middle of his grassed yard. He tried to use it like a burn can and spark got the dried grass and set up a big fire that spread like crazy. Took 45 minutes to get from two towns away fire department out. Those of us home were grabbing our hoses to connect to a neighbors hose to try and keep it from spreading as much as we could. Fire got so close to his neighbors animals and we knew we couldn't stop it from running and turned all his animals loose so they wouldn't die. Was a pain trying to capture them later , but they were safe. We've had three major fires just in our neighborhood from folks not burning right or sparks flaring back up and flying days later and almost burning homes. Generally, we all burn here. We have to. We're heavily wooded and loaded with huge and very old Oaks and Hickories mainly and the odd pines. We use what we can for mulches but when you have an excess you have to do something. Most of us are very very careful and even then things happen. Most of the time neighbor and I get along fine. I taught them how to sow seed, have given plants and pots and any help. Just get mad and frustrated when they do something to endanger the rest of us. Year before last the neighbor on other side called fire department on them. They thought it was me. They set huge and I mean huge fire right under and next to a group of trees. It caught the trees on fire, flames shooting out the top. Fire department had to use two trucks to put the fire out. Sheriff's told him no more burning like that. Soon as they all left he started fire right back up again. Even I two years back for the first time ever had one get away from me and I had a spotter. Had a 8 ' long 2 'wide and 1 1/2" high line I was burning. Which is usually what I always do. Don't know if it was a spark that blew up and set a neighbors yard on fire or from my spotter just tossed his cig butt. But it burned bad and fast. Lucky they got to it just before it got to several big propane tanks. That way a nightmare and a half I don't ever want to have to go through again. Good ideas. I am going to talk to him and see if he'll move the pile back a bit to burn and take pics of my gh and surrounding yard and hopefully where he burning just in case. I'll see if I can borrow some more hoses from other neighbor just in case I need em. I'm glad to know that you think my plants will be ok at that distance in case he won't move back further. I have gone through so much already to get my tomatoes this far, I sure don't want to lose them now at this stage. I would sit right down on the ground and cry my heart out if I came out and seen I had crispy crunchy leaves and burned plants. Last edited by Starlight; May 31, 2015 at 05:53 PM.

May 31, 2015	#2
jmsieglaff Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Southern WI Posts: 2,742	I've had some huge bonfires and I've had grass kill extend out about 4-5' from the fire, but beyond that the grass was fine. I would think 20' away won't hurt your plants. I would have concern about hot embers landing on your plastic greenhouse and melting holes in it. I would express that concern and let him know what the cost is to replace the greenhouse plastic, because if that were to happen that should be coming out of his pocketbook, not yours.

May 31, 2015	#3
Salsacharley Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2013 Location: New Mexico Posts: 2,052	With a ban on burning in effect his big fire should catch the attention of the fire authorities. I know in my area that any smoke rising will draw the fire department and that isn't something you want.

May 31, 2015	#4
AlittleSalt BANNED FOR LIFE Join Date: May 2014 Posts: 13,333	Starlight, It depends on big of a fire it is going to be. If he piles it up in a big bonfire and sets it all on fire - I would be very concerned. If he burns it slow - it should be alright.

May 31, 2015	#5
bughunter99 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: zone 5 Posts: 821	Have you asked him to relocate his burning pile to an area that won't impact your greenhouse? If there is a burn ban in place and he starts burning, call the cops if his burning is impacting your property. However if your plants are inside a greenhouse I am a little unclear how they are going to be hurt.

May 31, 2015	#6
Bipetual Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Illinois, zone 5a Posts: 579	Star, I wouldn't feel too bad reporting him for burning. Those restrictions are in place for a reason. Either it's dry and he's risking starting a wildfire, which would put you and your home in danger, or it's for health reasons. There are so many people with lung problems and children with asthma. I normally figure if I wouldn't say something to someone's face I wouldn't report them. But all the particulate in wood smoke is really bad for people with lung disease. If it were legal, well, there wouldn't be much you could do. But if it's not it's for a darn good reason. And once it gets going and everyone can see it, there's no reason to be sure it was you who called. It's your choice, of course. But I think it's a legitimate option.

May 31, 2015	#7
seaeagle Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: virginia Posts: 743	A copperhead bite rarely causes death and only then when someone has an allergic reaction, sorta like when people have allergic reaction to bee stings.Sounds more like neighbors that just don't like each other.You complained about his woodpile so he is going to burn it close to your greenhouse.Don't call the authorities , unless you want to make the situation worse. just my opinion

May 31, 2015	#8
ermentrude Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: Charleston SC Posts: 34	Maybe you noted it wrong, but if he's going to burn 15-20" (inches) from your greenhouse, that is going to be a problem and I would tell him that up front. If it is 15-20' (feet), that will likely be OK but you'll need to watch for embers as noted above. Good luck, having a neighbor you don't see eye to eye with is a challenge.

May 31, 2015	#9
Father'sDaughter Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: MA/NH Border Posts: 4,919	If it's large enough and close enough, I'd be concerned with the heat melting the plastic on your greenhouse. Maybe point out the potential damage to your greenhouse and ask him to move his burn pile elsewhere. If he declines, maybe let him know how much he'll have to pay to replace it if the heat from his fire destroys it.

May 31, 2015	#11
pauldavid Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: NE Louisiana, Zone 8A Posts: 1,179	Star, I would be out there with a water hose or something for sure. If its wet he might put diesel or something on it to help it burn. I would tell him your concerns.