So the fire department showed up . . .

bigmackloud

Active Member
Joined
Apr 6, 2005
Location
Raleigh, NC
Hey,

ok, here's a random story.

so some friends and i were grilling out on my back deck last night having a great time. then one of my neighbors comes out on her deck is like "i think the fire dept is looking for you." so i run to the front door, and sure enough there's a fire truck in the parking lot and i see two firemen up stairs, fully dressed out, going door to door looking for the source of the smoke i guess. so i called up to them and let them know it was me that was grilling. so they come in and tell me that i'm not supposed to grill on the deck, etc. which was fine. they moved my grill out into the yard area for me and all was well. they were cool about it and we were cracking jokes with them and offered them some burgers, lol. before they left they got me to write down my name and address so they could fill out their report. but my question is, am i going to get some ticket in the mail since they had to bring the firetruck out??

i'm kinda annoyed with my neighbors though. all somebody had to do was walk down stairs and tell me that i shouldn't be grilling on the deck. i honestly hadn't thought anything of it. but instead of coming to talk to me about it, my neighbor calls the fire department. just seems like a waste to have to bring the truck out like that, plus the fire fighters. what if there had been a real fire somewhere?? i'm tempted to write a letter to the people in my building apologizing for any problem i caused them, but telling them to come talk to me personally next time and not be a dork and call the fire department.

later,
bigmac
 
A few years ago we were having a "large" fire and the fire dept. was called. Not one truck, at least four of them. (I think the old lady aross the street thought the Peterbuilt was on fire or something) They looked at the fire, asked a few questions, then rode off. We never heard anything from them.
 
I can't speak for Raleigh Fire Department, but here in Charlotte/Mecklenburg, it takes more than one trip out by the fire department for that sort of problem before they begin writing tickets. The info about you was only for their paperwork. Now they have a record so they know if they have to come out to your place again, they can entertain the idea of giving you a ticket.
As long as you're nice about it, you won't have any problems from them. They're not the police...they're not in the business of writing tickets. This is their way of making sure they don't actually have to do the hard work, and they can go back to their beds and get paid for nothing.

Now sit back, have a :beer: and don't worry about a ticket. Just keep the grill out in the yard.

Brian
 
Well is it against your lease agreement to grill on your deck? If so and the owner recieves a bill I bet it will be passed on.
 
City ordanance. Grill has to be "so far" not sure how far, away from the apartment.
 
Rob said:
City ordanance. Grill has to be "so far" not sure how far, away from the apartment.
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If I remember correctly from my apartment dwelling days, it is 10' away from the building.
 
Rob said:
City ordanance. Grill has to be "so far" not sure how far, away from the apartment.
Click to expand...

Ohhh city laws huh? :rolleyes:
 
I was visited by the fire marshall and one truck while I was burning pizza boxes (yeah, I know) wearing ski goggles (don't ask) and drinking a beer (see: ski goggles) and never was ticketed. Some odd looks, though.
 
I work in the fire business and what they "most likley did" was record the incident for their purposes only. Anytime a truck leaves the station it needs to be accounted for, even if it is fueling up. The person who could give you hell or ticket you would be the fire marshall if the building manager had issues with it. I wouldn't worry about it, you could always use the "no one told me about the city ordinance" followed with "sir, it will never happen again"
best of luck
jp
 
Hey,

thanks for the info. technically it's a condo, which my dad owns. hopefully there won't be a ticket, but if there is, it will no doubt be passed on to me, lol. i just reviewed the information packet from the HOA, and it says nothing about not grilling on the deck, so i had no clue about the city ordinance. i haven't been a city dweller very long so the thought that i couldn't grill on the deck never crossed my mind, lol. but i guess it makes sense, though midly annoying.

cheers,
bigmac
 
I had a firetruck and couple other trucks come out to the house one evening this past winter because I sent the smoke detector off in the basement starting a fire in the wood stove, alarm company called, I told them the passcode and all and told them everything was fine.

little while later fire department shows up all ready to go, not sure why, I said everything was fine and had the correct passcode lol, so I told them everything was fine and they did some paper work and left, never heard anything again.
 
Just one more reason to never live in the CITY. How many rules & regs do city folks need for their protection from themselves?

<><Fish
 
05Coly said:
I had a firetruck and couple other trucks come out to the house one evening this past winter because I sent the smoke detector off in the basement starting a fire in the wood stove, alarm company called, I told them the passcode and all and told them everything was fine.

little while later fire department shows up all ready to go, not sure why, I said everything was fine and had the correct passcode lol, so I told them everything was fine and they did some paper work and left, never heard anything again.
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They showed up after you said everything was OK because they have to. They still have paperwork to do. They have to show that they actually made sure nothing was burning. There have been incidents where something like a small grease fire was extinguished by the homeowner, who also cancelled the fire department through the alarm company. When the homeowner tried to file insurance to take care of the damage, there was no fire department report because they were cancelled. The insurance company can refuse to pay at that point. Just my .02

Brian
 
Brians911 said:
They showed up after you said everything was OK because they have to. They still have paperwork to do. They have to show that they actually made sure nothing was burning. There have been incidents where something like a small grease fire was extinguished by the homeowner, who also cancelled the fire department through the alarm company. When the homeowner tried to file insurance to take care of the damage, there was no fire department report because they were cancelled. The insurance company can refuse to pay at that point. Just my .02

Brian
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Ahh, that makes sense, I didn't really mind, I was just a little surprised when they did show up, I wasn't expecting them too lol.
 
NCJeeper said:
If I remember correctly from my apartment dwelling days, it is 10' away from the building.
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IIRC, it was 50', and my apt. complex told me it was a NC state law. This was 1998, and this apt complex had a few previous fire incidents destroy some buildings. Maybe it was BS, dunno, but I grilled on my deck until they busted/warned me. After that, I had to drag my grill down parking lot, but it was still no more than 20' away :flipoff2:
 
I'm kinda curious how you burn a building down with a grill. My mom and dad grilled under an awning with the side table on the grill touching the house for 25 years. Never had a problem.
 
rattlecanpaint said:
I'm kinda curious how you burn a building down with a grill.
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That is because you are a normal human being. They make the laws for the idiots. :D
 
been a little while but over on the beach topsail island there was a place burnt down for just that. some ashes made its way up into the roof and started the building on fire. Caused major damage.
 
Hey,

yea, it would have to be a fluke accident for the ashes to catch the roof on fire. i figure you have a better chance of burning the place down cooking on the stove.

the rule makes sense since there are decks above mine, and the rising smoke might go onto their decks. i had my grill at the very edge of my deck though, and it didn't appear to be a problem, but i could see where if the wind was blowing just right, it could be.

later,
bigmac
 
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