I have not posted in a long time, but today’s activities warranted a post. (Does this prove my life is boring? Only slightly.)
So the hubs and I went for a nice Saturday trip to Bed Bath & Beyond to find a new pillow for his achin’ head. We find one, and upon pulling into the alley, only a few garages away from our own, we see smoke. A LOT of smoke…billowing from what appears to be our garage. I floor it to investigate, and we determine that the smoke is coming from the yard of our new neighbor.
That’s right. This guy seems to think that burning leaves in your yard is legal in the city.
I’m sorry, sir – but you live IN MINNEAPOLIS. NOT IN BUMFARK, MINNESOTA. I still don’t understand WTF this guy was thinking. He raked all the leaves from his yard into a pile in what is the garden in the summer, and lit the thing on fire. All within 4 feet of a wooden fence, and 8 feet of our garage (which…trust me when I say, is really nothing but kindling being held together with a few nails and hope).
By the time we got home, our whole backyard was FILLED with the stinky smoke. We coughed and gagged our way into the back door, and then realized the smoke was pretty much beginning to stink up our home.
After not being able to turn up any laws against burning in yards (aside from one that said recreational burning must take place within a firepit or outdoor fireplace), I called 911. I really didn’t necessarily want to bust the guy, but I wanted to know if it was indeed legal.
So, I call, and tell the dispatcher that our neighbor is burning a pile of leaves in his backyard and … she cuts me off.
“You wouldn’t happen to be calling about (insert address of the house next door here)?”
“Uh, yeah, actually.”
“We already have the fire department on the way.”
Excellent. I’m glad someone else complained before me.
So the fire department comes down the street. The hubs actually sees them pointing into the backyard of the house, laughing. They probably can’t believe the guy’s such an idiot either. They come back into the alley, make the guy turn on his hose, and start raking the fire and putting it out. I’m wondering whether he was issued a citation for it or not, but whatever. I’m just glad he put the damn thing out. Our house stunk of smoke for a good 3 hours afterward.
And that my friends, is the most excitement I’ve had in a long, long time.
