I’m pretty torn on this one…
On one hand, I’m a huge fan of fire pits. On the other hand, I also like to open my windows and not have a bunch of smoke waft into my house.
So what to do?
Well, this woman called the fire department on her neighbors and now she wants to know if she went too far.
Let’s see what’s going on here…
AITA for getting my neighbors’ fire pit shut down?
“My husband and I are new homeowners and moved into our first home a little less than a year ago.
This hasn’t been going well…
We’ve had a rocky relationship with one of our neighbors from the start, an older couple. The husband is pretty chill and kind to us but the wife has been confrontational and made sure when we moved in that we knew exactly where our property ends and theirs begins.
We’re in a city and our lots are about 2,000 sq ft each so we’re talking a matter of inches that she does not want us crossing. When we moved in, other neighbors on the street welcomed us and also warned us about her attitude and nastiness.
Basically the point being that honestly I am intimidated by my neighbors and do not want to confront them directly.
They have a fire pit in their backyard that is roughly 20 feet from our house. The weather has been getting nicer so they have been using it for recreational use— just to have a fire going while sitting outside and chatting.
There’s a problem…
Naturally being so close, the smoke comes right into our home so we can’t open windows and we can’t be outside in our own yard without being covered in smoke. It has even set off the smoke detectors in our house if any window is opened a crack.
I checked our local laws and any fire pits require a permit and must be 75 ft away from any structure (which is impossible considering the size of our houses and our small yards), and can only be operated from January to May 1st.
Time to make a call…
I called the non-emergency line of fire department yesterday (anonymously) and within 5 minutes they were there and it was put out. I plan to call the non-emergency number whenever their smoke gets into our house/yard.
According to local laws they will probably be fined and prohibited from having it entirely if there are multiple complaints.
WIBTA for continuing to call the fire department when this happens again to get my neighbors’ recreational fire pit shut down?”
Now check out what people had to say on Reddit.
This reader said she’s NTA.
Another Reddit user shared their thoughts.
This person spoke up.
Another person also said she’s NTA.
And this Reddit user summed it up perfectly.
I think I would’ve done the same thing…
If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a daughter who invited herself to her parents’ 40th anniversary vacation for all the wrong reasons.