So, I’m at work, and one of my employees (the one who was beaten up in the other thread…not that it has anything to do with this), mentions that there is a small fire just up the road. I take a look outside, and sure enough, flames. During one of the big snowstorms someone took out a light poll up the road from us. The cops put cones around the area, and from my vantage point, it appeard that the cones were on fire. I called 911, fire truck comes, put’s the fire out, and leaves. At some point during that time, I learn (from a customer who drove past it) that it was a charcoal fire they the city set (on purpose) to thaw out the ground so they can put a new pole in.
Here’s my question, while I’m sure it’s normal to do this, is it normal to leave it unattended? It seems like if you have to do this, someone should be in the area keeping an eye on it. What if a some kids walked by and decided to play with the fire (or the half barrel that was layed over it which was probably REALLY hot at this point, what if someone didn’t notice and decided to park next to it (would the city cover damage to their car?) What if what if what if, it seems like there’s ALOT of potential problems with leaving an unattended fire right between the sidewalk and street for who knows how long.
What were the replies to the light poll?
Most people said “let there be light!”
Don’t encourage him! :rolleyes: 
It is a liability issue, but city workers do stupid things that nobody stops until an accident.
Depends on how far in advance the invitations went out.
There was a thread a while back about digging graves in the winter. I’d search for it, but…
Unattended fires, generally, are Not Cool. The main reason is the risk of spreading. After a snowstorm, that’s not a problem. There is still the risk of some passerby stumbling into it, but, hey, they did mark it as a hazard.
If the fire was attended, then some Concerned Citizen would get irate about city employees standing around a fire, doing nothing while Wasting Tax Dollars. I agree that it’s not really a good idea in general to leave a fire burning without someone watching it, but sometimes you just can’t win.
The remains of the fire is still there. On the one hand, I feel like I wasted everyones time. The firefighters who had to put the fire out, the on call firefighters who had to go and sit at the station, the city workers who came back to find a burned out fire and now have to either start over or wait until spring. OTOH, This was a fire that was big enough for me to see from probably 200 feet away (even with it under a half barrel). It really seems odd that they didn’t just wait [del]out the fire[/del] until spring to do this, the pole has been down for quite some time and the road still has plenty of light.
Sounds like a good symbiotic make-work arrangement for both the public works department and the fire department.
The fact that the fire department put out the fire speaks volumes. They thought it was a bad situation too.
Possibly. Though I doubt the can ignore it since someone called them about it. If they chose to do nothing and someone got burned I think they’d be in a bit of trouble about it since they were aware of the fire.
So, the Utility Company set a fire without informing the Fire Department. I just can not conceive of that.
Of course you did the right thing; you reported an unattended fire.
Last summer I was burning fallen wood from trees that had died because the land was flooded, in a valid container, next to a lake, during a rain storm. I got a permit, just to be safe.