Owning a home is just as much about navigating neighborly relations than it is paying a mortgage.

One new couple’s enjoyment of their new home is clouded by smoke from their rude neighbor’s fire pit.

When a woman realizes the fire pit isn’t up to city code, she takes action to get it shut down. But by extinguishing the fire, is she only igniting a bigger flame?

Read on for the full story!

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.

We’ve had a rocky relationship with one of our neighbors from the start, an older couple.

She describes the current state of affairs.

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.

The neighbor’s animosity has made it difficult for the couple to enjoy their new home.

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.

In addition to their rude attitude, there’s another problem.

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.

It’s an issue that’s been hard to ignore.

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.

So the homeowner decides to do some research.

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.

I called the non-emergency line of fire department yesterday (anonymously) and within 5 minutes, they were there and it was put out.

Her plan worked out well, but she wonders what it will do to her already poor relationship with the neighbors.

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?

This seems like a lose-lose situation for these new homeowners.

What did Reddit have to say?

If the neighbors were actually kind, that would be one thing, but…

This redditor warns the complaints may be easy to trace back to the new homeowners.

This commenter thinks the new homeowners should let the professionals handle it as much as possible.

The homeowner’s quality of life may be more important than sparing the neighbor’s feelings.

Ultimately, it wasn’t just the fire pit that was simmering, but neighborly tensions too.

This homeowner may have ignited more trouble than she bargained for.

If you liked that post, check this one about a guy who got revenge on his condo by making his own Christmas light rules.