Why the state says DON'T BURN THINGS, or My hair smells like a campfire

[Food Lady]

I came back from a walk to see a house a few doors down from my complex with fire engines in front and black smoke. Our state's on burn ban due to drought. Maybe our city, not sure. The occupants had a pit fire get out of control and catch the garage, which had a gas mower inside. o_O Everyone's ok, but they just bought that house, which was just remodeled.

[Aethian]

Isn't this known as ironic karma?

[HYHYBT]

When my great grandparents couldn't live by themselves anymore, they moved in with relatives and rented out their house. The tenants decided it was a good idea to burn a pile of trash next to and upwind of the barn

I'm just glad that, in your case, it was their own property they destroyed... even if it was a newly-bought-and-remodelled house, it was theirs and they probably won't be so stupid in the future.

[protege]

When I was still living on my grandmother's farm, quite a few summers were dry. So dry, that the county wouldn't let people burn garbage or yard waste. I was probably one of the few people who realized that the fields were extremely flammable. Sadly, some people did it anyway--barns were lost, at least one house, and the fire department wasn't too pleased. At least the idiots not only had to contend with damaging/destroying their property...but also got heavily fined as well...and probably an ass-beating from the neighboring property owner if the fire spread.

[blas]

We're still under burn bans. The fire risk has been high since March, since there was no snow and minimal rain (well, does it count that it's rained almost every weekend since winter? Even just a bit?).

[Dips]

Perhaps these idiots were following the step-by-step plan my parents' former neighbors followed?

[Primer]

Last Spring, our area was in the worst drought we'd ever had. Even the government was calling it a disaster area. Of course we were under burn ban! We had been for the previous 2 years!

Did that stop stupid neighbor from burning his trash...with nothing to control the fire but a garden rake...and no cell phone to call for help if/when it did get out of hand...? Of course not! *I* was the one that noticed the smoke, and called the fire department! He ended up burning over 75 acres of remote woodland. It would have bee a LOT more had I not called it in when I FIRST smelled smoke. It would have been a LOT less had he stopped to think, first.

Oh wait...idiots don't think. Yeah, I'm still pissed.

ETA: Dips, except for the water hose, and the proximity of the neighbors, that sounds a lot like Idiot.