Get a couple of those big rolling foam extinguishers. Photo document every burn barrel, then put it out. Spray the burner as well. Then sue the ass off anybody who gives you the slightest lip. A good shyster should be able to bankrupt every one of these idiots working on commission.
Have pictures. So far no one seems to care much, though. Two years ago a resident of another part of the county started a 22,000 acre fire with their burn barrel. It burned to within 1 mile of our subdivision. The way the wind was blowing that day you can still, two years later, see from the burn pattern exactly where the barrel was sitting. No charges filed.
“No forensic evidence to prove who actually lit the fire.”
There aren’t enough :rolleyes: for that kind of shit.
I think the property owner should have been cited, regardless of who started it. But, then, that would mean that someone other than the taxpayers might be responsible for the cost of fighting the fire …
Fact is, to the best of my knowledge, Judy is the first person actually arrested, placed in custody, and hauled off to face the judge for this offense in the last 6 years.
Come to think about it, that may be because there’s a new Sheriff in town. I voted for him 'cause this is just the type of shit “the other guy” tended to look the other way on … For the record, we replaced the County Attorney and the Judge, too.
Now that I’ve thought that through, perhaps that is the reason our new Sheriff responded to what was (or any other time of the year would’ve been) an otherwise unremarkable incident. I think I’m going to call Dale (the Sheriff) and let him have all of my little neighborly pictures. Hmmmm. — Please Standby — Oooooooo, yeah! He’s on the way over to pick them up as I type this! For once, and only once, I feel as though my vote counted for something.
Maybe, just maybe, everyone will sit up and take notice now. Especially if Judy ends up having to pay the fire suppression costs. (Maybe Judy’s lot in life is to serve as a bad example to everyone else. Ya think?)
featherlou, Consider the moat in place. It may look like an inexpensive above-ground swimming pool, but a well placed razorknife in just the right place at just the right moment will buy us a lot of time … Mama ‘n’ I have been practicing.
And I just finished vacuuming the thing, too! (You thought I was jus’ kiddin’, didn’cha?) 
Damn thing’s like a second full time job!
On Preview:
DrDeth, actually a year round ban would be cutting my own throat. I, and most of my responsible neighbors, use burn barrels and open burning (with the appropriate permits and safety measures) to clear our property of the fuels that get these fires going.
OtakuLoki: Review the 1950’s scifi classic, “The Blob”. Same general idea, except Ground Level Liquid Stupid does not have that much intelligence.
Lucy
Update:
Okay, I remembering a christmas morning some 20 years ago. Mama and I had spent 2 months doing everything we could to trying to explain to our eldest daughter that there was just no way we could afford the present she wanted. She was inconsolable.
A bonus from work 2 days before christmas allowed me, after much searching to find it, to purchase the desired gift.
The look on my daughters face that morning when she discovered that Santa had brought her the gift that was her hearts greatest desire is a look I will never forget.
Dale, our new County Sheriff, had much the same look on his face just a few minutes ago when I handed over 14 photographs together with documentation of dates, times, names and circumstances.
I must, therefore, now limit certain my participation in certain aspects of this thread as I am now a ‘material witness in an on-going investigation’.
I must also go out now and gather the troops (my more responsible neighbors) and rally support for what I am certain is about to become known as “The Greatest Property Rights Battle in the History of Elko County”.
It’s okay. I love a good fight. Besides, some of my neighbors have video.
Lucy
Lucy- where are you in relation to Elko? I was out there on some fires in 2001. I can also attest that the sage & grass there burns like CRAZY (I was out there when the Sheep Fire went from new start to about 20,000 acres in a day)! Oh, and I’m guessing your neighbors are the same people that always flipped off the Forest Service trucks when we were there.
St. Urho
former USFS firefighter
LucyInDisguise good for you! Keep up the good fight. Sounds like the sane neighbors and you have had enough. Good for the sheriff too!
Just a friendly reminder that a small fire extinguisher serves a dual purpose as both a means to extinguish the burning barrel, and a handy ASD (Anti-Stupid Device) with a liberal application of blunt force trauma to the offender’s head and face.
With a Sheriff like that, it seems assured that there will be no forensic proof that you personally bludgeoned them into unconsciousness.
Might I suggest that you ask for this to be closed? Seeing that you’re probably very easily identifiable by anyone in that area, and there would be some people who’d be, say, rather pissed off at you personally? not to mention the potential for problems for the prosecution of said folks if your answers in this thread were found? Seriously, ixnay on the uggestions-say about iolence- vay. ya know? Especially ironic when y’all are talking about how stoopid other folks are being.
Good luck from the western part of the state. I was working with a rancher several years ago who was mowing and burning a field of noxious weeds (tall whitetop). After neighbors called in about the smoke, a local fire crew came out and offered some tips on how to make everything safer… and some clarification on the burn permit he’d obtained. The main point was to burn one pile at a time, and make sure that pile’s completely out before you go on to the next one.
Fifteen minutes after they left, the rancher decided that that would be too slow. Thirty minutes after they left, the crew was on their way back, and they spent the next five hours or so there. I never worked with Bill again.
Kudos to you for your great explaination of why a half full tanker showed up. I know what seems like pure nonsense becomes viable once you understand why. When my house was burning, the fire fighters had two rather large hoses spraying a tree at the back of my lot ( a thirty foot tall pine), spraying away from the burning house, not at it. I got in the fire chief’s face (In my underwear no less) and screamed why the hell don’t you put out the fire and quit watering the shrubery! He put me in my place rather quickly. Not exact quote, but close enough, “Your house is gone. No saving it. If that tree goes it is going to take the house next to it as well. It is not about saving your house, it is about saving the block. Please get out of my way. The people from the red cross van across the street will give you a blanket.” I was so centered on myself I did not see the big picture. Same with some of those around you. I hope your campaign to enlighten them works.
Oooh. That burns my ass. (Pun only sort of intended.)
I love that piece of NV. Every year my husband and I go there to just kind of hang out. We’ve talked about retiring there. (Close, Ely.) If someone burns it up due to something on the magnitude of the stupid we’re reading in this very thread…I’ll just…be…a massive conniption fit fits the bill. Next winter when we amble through, I think I’d like to stop by to say, “Hi!” to you and contribute to your stupidity amelioration fund.
Seriously.
Dude- Mulch. So, you’re part of the problem. Think about it.
Have you ever seen the high desert? Sagebrush, rabbitbrush, and cheatgrass don’t make very good mulch… and unless Lucy’s got some different landscaping than most people do around gere, there’s not a lot of use for mulch. My house (typical suburban 3 bedroom home in Reno) has about 3 square feet of mulched area between the front door and the driveway - the rest is either grass or gravel.
Burning can be done responsibly or irresponsibly. If he’s doing it right (and it sounds like he is), then he’s not part of the problem.
I cant hear the name Elko without thinking about the Hunter Thompson story
http://www.gonzo.org/elko.txt
Build a big catapult.
Load it with large sponges.
Soak sponges in water.
Enjoy interesting conversations when you go ask for your sponges back.
Lucy, that totally rocks. Keep up the good work! 
UPDATE:
Well now, that was interesting!
Following my last post yesterday I went and visited several of my neighbors. By 5:00 PM it was more like 20 or so of us calling on several more of our neighbors. This, surprisingly enough turned into an impromptu block party. Actually, it was more like a property owners meeting more than anything else …
By 7:30 last night we were running 7 LP gas barbecues burning hamburgers and hot dogs like crazy. (It’s nearly 100 degrees out here! WTF am I doing standing next to a BBQ flipping burgers???)
We have 181 resident owners in the subdivision, more than half (97 +/- by my less than perfect count) plus a bunch of the renters all joined us for the free food. (Funny how that works, huh?) Most of these people I have never met in the almost 6 years we’ve lived here.
A couple of phone calls with the offer of free food brought the Sheriff and 2 of his senior deputies to the board, together with the line supervisor that was at the fire Friday and 2 senior NDF firefighters.
Discussion revolved around not burning down the Northern half of the state, and in particular, our little corner of same.
NDF wowed us with an interesting demonstration: 1 spark from a burning cigarette flicked into some cheat grass resulted in a 20’ X 20’ burn area in less than 90 seconds. Yeah, it’s dry alright.
Dale and his deputies circulated among the owners & renters and inconspicuously sought out several individuals. Seems that someone had given him some rather incriminating photographs [nudge, nudge, wink, wink] that showed some people engaged in some rather illegal activities.
Actually, everyone so immortalized on film knew exactly where the photos came from, but the Sheriff was discreet and utterly failed to confirm their suspicions. I, however, not being the shy type, not only confirmed their suspicions, but made a point of proving once and for all that I will do whatever is necessary to protect my property and my family. (Can I do run-on sentences well, or what?)
The party(?) / meeting lasted well into darkness. The Boys and Girls from NDF pointed to the western horizon. They wanted to make sure that everyone saw the orange glow and understood that the glow was from a fire burning on the western edge of Elko (about 12 miles away).
I’m pretty certain that the point was made. We don’t want to lose our homes, NDF does not want to have to try to save them. Dale has better things to do than run around arresting people for silly, senseless shit.
All things being equal, I think Judy did us all a favor - though not in a manner that everyone would necessarily approve of. This week those of us who stuffed ourselves last night will be taking the word to the property owners and renters who were not at that little shindig last night. Our plan is to visit in groups of five or more to lessen the prospect of (shall we say …) “unpleasant encounters”.
St. Urho: We are 7 miles ENE of Elko proper. I wasn’t here for the Sheep Fire, but the one started by a burn barrel two years ago started out just as spectacularly. I hate to see that glow on the horizon. [::shuddersagain::]
Curious? Why ‘former’? Most of the firefighters I have met are pretty much addicted to the profession.
Chimera: The no forensic proof thing was the old Sheriff’s gig. Perhaps that’s why (after more than 22 years in the position) he failed (rather spectacularly) to get re-elected. The new guy is apparently not part of the ‘good ol’ boy’ network and is right on top of this thing.
Wring: Not to worry. I ‘came of age’ during the 60’s and 70’s - very much the activist, I’ve been fighting to get our roads fixed and to get a green belt (fire break) around our subdivision and generally making a nuisance of myself since about a month after we purchased our property here.
I was (way too) visible before this thread got started. Even more so after last night. Some of my neighbors may be willing to accept the way things are but, by damn, come hell or high water I will get some of this shit taken care of even if I have to resort to running for a seat on the County Commission. [::shudders-at-the-thought::]
Enginerd: Thanks for the good word on my behalf. I’ll pick up where you left off:
DrDeth, Open burning is not only safe when done properly during the late fall and early spring, it is also beneficial to our land. It is, quite literally the only way to convert the wild vegetation to organic material in the dirt.
Unlike other climates, the dirt here has almost no organic material. Natures way of converting vegetation to organic material is through decomposition. If the vegetation doesn’t die naturally, then nature converts it through fire. Before man intervened, lighting sparked wildfires would burn all across this land. Now, we fight the fires to protect property and life, but the quality of our soil and it’s ability to support domestic vegetation suffers greatly.
Unlike where you live, I can not just throw out some grass seed or plant a tree / shrub and get it to grow. I’ve lived on this property for years now and still struggle to get even the hardiest of plants to grow. My wife has had good luck with flowering cactus and some other desert flowers. Lawn, at least so far, is still an elusive dream.
I follow in the footsteps and under the tutor-age of my neighbors who have been here 25+ years. They had to do what I’ve been doing - I learn from them.
By burning in the early spring, adding manure, peat moss, and other organic compounds to the ash and roto-tilling the whole mess into the soil, I have slowly brought the top 2-3" of soil on some sections of my property up to where I think I can get grass to grow next year. Maybe. 'Course that’s what I said last year, too. Robert (my mentor in this) thinks maybe another couple of years. (The 40 lbs. of grass seed I put down this year yielded not one blade of grass that survived past June 5th. I don’t always listen to my mentor. 
)
bdgr:
Lucy
Lucy, sounds like your chorus of “Alice’s Restaurant” fell on receptive ears. Good for all of you! If have the subdivision is on your team already, you’ve got it won. Hell, only 33% of the American colonists favored the Revolution, and look what happened!
Wrap a handkerchief around your head and start practicing that fife…
w00t!! Congrats on getting the neighbors together and cranking down on the firebugs!
A good friend of mine moved to Elko last year. She met a gold miner on the internet (hell of a great guy, btw), fell in love and moved out there to be with him. Some of her stories about the morons out there are legendary. She got job doing 911 dispatch, maybe you know her voice :).
Wait a minute … We’re not all Mormons.
Oh.
Morons.
Maybe we are …
Likely, actually.
Lucy