# What's so bad about a dumpster fire? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 23, 2019, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-bad-about-a-dumpster-fire/840719 "2019-09-23T19:18:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jumpbass](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jumpbass/32/147_2.png) [@Jumpbass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jumpbass)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2019, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-bad-about-a-dumpster-fire/840719/21 "2019-09-24T15:12:07Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > The zookeeper in charge of the hippo exhibit might know a [thing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-jXMeo4a4k) or [two](https://youtu.be/wbw2VSfUGbw?t=173) about shitstorms. I am NOT going to click on those links.:eek: ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2019, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-bad-about-a-dumpster-fire/840719/22 "2019-09-24T20:37:54Z")
A clueless tenant in my apartment building had a cookout. He (or she) discarded the charcoal embers into the dumpster while they were still hot. As a result, the plastic lid on top of the dumpster melted into a mangled unusable lump. The lid was removed by the janitor. So now, there’s an open dumpster in the backyard, which means every time you toss a bag of garbage in there, you disturb a giant swarm of flies. These are flies that take great pleasure in bumping against human faces. Not the best feeling when leaving for work. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2019, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-bad-about-a-dumpster-fire/840719/23 "2019-09-24T21:11:39Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > What about a clusterfuck? I know people who think that’s a wonderful thing. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2019, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-bad-about-a-dumpster-fire/840719/24 "2019-09-24T21:36:57Z")
> [@Akaj](#): > > But what’s so terrible about a dumpster fire? > > It’s a fire in a steel box with a lid, so it’s self-contained and easy to put out. What’s more, the only things destroyed in the fire were already garbage, so the damages are negligible. Probably at least some of what’s burning in there is giving off fumes that not only stink, but are toxic (not, probably, die-this-minute toxic, but definitely really-bad-for-your-lungs toxic.) Though I think Miller’s explanation has something to it. > [@WildaBeast](#): > > I’ve always wondered what was supposed to be good about “draining the swamp”. Swamps are important ecosystems and serve as habitat for many kinds of plants and animals. As a nature lover I’d never want to drain one. That didn’t use to be understood. Swamps used to be thought of by many people not as essential habitat, food sources, and water filters, but only as sources of mosquitos and what was thought to be “bad air” that could make people sick (probably what was actually going on was that the mosquitos were carrying diseases.) They couldn’t be farmed, or built upon, both of which things were often done on drained swampland. I remember going to meetings at which Extension personnel were trying to explain, sometimes with difficulty, why they were now advising farmers not to drain swampland and in fact to restore swamps when possible, after they’d\* spent the past hundred years or so advising farmers to drain all of those nasty wet spots as fast as possible. (\*not always the same individual people in “they”, of course; though sometimes it was the same people, who’d lived through the change in attitude brought on by better information.) ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2019, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-bad-about-a-dumpster-fire/840719/25 "2019-09-24T22:10:57Z")
> [@Akaj](#): > > Everything that’s terrible these days gets labeled a “dumpster fire.” But what’s so terrible about a dumpster fire? Have you ever _smelled_ one? OMG… Because dumpsters can contain all manner of objectionable things (and typically do) it’s not something like a fire made from clean pine logs. It’s got plastics and kitty litter and rotten food bits and plastic and maybe the occasionally exploding aerosol can. Among other things. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2019, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-bad-about-a-dumpster-fire/840719/26 "2019-09-24T22:13:17Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Or the expression “shit hitting the fan”. I understand that it is meant to conjure up an image of shit spraying everywhere, deflected off the spinning blades of a fan. But under what circumstances would you have a fan in close proximity to where you shit, such that you would have to concern yourself with it accidently shitting on it? Because there is no significant gravity in orbit, allegedly zero-g toilets use a fan to draw waste into the receptacle. In other words, that’s a situation _designed_ to have shit hit the fan. But, admittedly, few of us have to deal with zero-g toilets, or being in orbit. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2019, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-bad-about-a-dumpster-fire/840719/27 "2019-09-24T22:19:46Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Well… [mosquitoes as pollinators]Yeah, but the only things they pollinate are nettles, poison ivy, and beets. ---
**Author:** ![KCB615](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ea666f/32.png) [@KCB615](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KCB615)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2019, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-bad-about-a-dumpster-fire/840719/28 "2019-09-24T23:29:06Z")
> [@Akaj](#): > > Everything that’s terrible these days gets labeled a “dumpster fire.” But what’s so terrible about a dumpster fire? > > It’s a fire in a steel box with a lid, so it’s self-contained and easy to put out. What’s more, the only things destroyed in the fire were already garbage, so the damages are negligible. > > If anything, “dumpster fire” should be used for minor, easily solvable problems that may stink a bit. You have clearly never had to put one out. I have probably had 50 or so in my career. They suck. You can’t let them burn, the smoke is awful and there is usually a risk of the fire extending outside of the dumpster. When they get going, they will cast embers up with the smoke column that land elsewhere and start other fires. Also, if you let it burn itself out, it usually damages the only thing there of any alue - the dumpster itself. You _have_ to put them out - it’s your job. A burning dumpster has all of the danger of a building fire. Same contents. Arranged in a haphazard way, and super dangerous to be in. And getting more dangerous by the second. You can’t just fill it with water and leave. Most dumpsters aren’t water tight, and if you did fill it up, the truck that hauls them off wouldn’t be able to lift it. The only way to put it out is to open it up and remove the trash until you can get to the seat of the fire. Overhaul in a dumpster is exhausting and dangerous. All of this work you do is for trash. Beat yourself up for 45 minutes, risking a whole lot of injury, and you are left with the same thing you started with - a big steel box full of trash (maybe some in the parking lot, too, so it’s a bigger mess than when you started). Every time I hear that phrase, it brings to mind a whole lot of mandatory work on something useless, which you know will be just as useless when it’s all over with. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2019, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-bad-about-a-dumpster-fire/840719/29 "2019-09-25T13:01:26Z")
> [@KCB615](#): > > You have clearly never had to put one out. I have probably had 50 or so in my career. They suck. > > You can’t let them burn, the smoke is awful and there is usually a risk of the fire extending outside of the dumpster. When they get going, they will cast embers up with the smoke column that land elsewhere and start other fires. Also, if you let it burn itself out, it usually damages the only thing there of any alue - the dumpster itself. You _have_ to put them out - it’s your job. > > A burning dumpster has all of the danger of a building fire. Same contents. Arranged in a haphazard way, and super dangerous to be in. And getting more dangerous by the second. You can’t just fill it with water and leave. Most dumpsters aren’t water tight, and if you did fill it up, the truck that hauls them off wouldn’t be able to lift it. The only way to put it out is to open it up and remove the trash until you can get to the seat of the fire. Overhaul in a dumpster is exhausting and dangerous. > > All of this work you do is for trash. Beat yourself up for 45 minutes, risking a whole lot of injury, and you are left with the same thing you started with - a big steel box full of trash (maybe some in the parking lot, too, so it’s a bigger mess than when you started). Every time I hear that phrase, it brings to mind a whole lot of mandatory work on something useless, which you know will be just as useless when it’s all over with. Explanations like this are why I love the Dope. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2019, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-bad-about-a-dumpster-fire/840719/30 "2019-09-25T15:50:34Z")
Came to see if this thread was a dumpster fire or shit storm. Not disappointed. lol - I KID… I KID! ---
**Author:** ![Patch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2019, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-bad-about-a-dumpster-fire/840719/31 "2019-09-25T17:28:55Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > A clueless tenant in my apartment building had a cookout. He (or she) discarded the charcoal embers into the dumpster while they were still hot. > > As a result, the plastic lid on top of the dumpster melted into a mangled unusable lump. The lid was removed by the janitor. > > So now, there’s an open dumpster in the backyard, which means every time you toss a bag of garbage in there, you disturb a giant swarm of flies. > > These are flies that take great pleasure in bumping against human faces. Not the best feeling when leaving for work. You should set it on fire right when you get up so the flames get rid of the flies by the time you leave. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2019, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-bad-about-a-dumpster-fire/840719/32 "2019-09-25T17:40:31Z")
The weirdest thing about the “drain the swamp” metaphor is it’s most commonly used (here in the US, at least) to mean “get corruption out of Washington” or “reduce government power.” But Washington, DC, was quite literally _built_ on a drained swamp. The idea was that the national capital should be outside the boundaries of any one state. Maryland and Virginia both gave up land to become the District of Columbia, and they chose swampland, then regarded as nearly useless. [Citation](https://doee.dc.gov/service/history-wetlands-district) or maybe not: [Opposing citation](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/draining-swamp-guide-outsiders-and-career-politicians-180962448/) So draining the swamp made Washington a center of federal power (and attendant corruption) instead of reducing it. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2019, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-bad-about-a-dumpster-fire/840719/33 "2019-09-25T20:44:20Z")
> [@](#): > > What’s so bad about a dumpster fire? It makes the s’mores taste like shit. ---
**Author:** ![TheMightyFro](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/themightyfro/32/20081_2.png) [@TheMightyFro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMightyFro)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-bad-about-a-dumpster-fire/840719/34 "2019-09-27T13:02:15Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > A guy I used to work with said that in high school he… appropriated a lump of sodium. He put it into an empty dumpster, then put some paper and cardboard on it and lit it on fire. Then he waited for someone to come (who did) to spray water on it. Were you at the Hobart Hodown at UMASS in 2004? This exact scene played out in front of my eyes… The Amherst fire dept showed up to a dumpster engulfed in flames. Out of nowhere this guy ran up to them and said he started the fire, and not to hose it down because he put a block of sodium in it. A firefighter just walked passed (over) him with the hose, sprayed the entire dumpster down, and all was well again. No one believed him anyways. BUT, there were a number of mattresses in the dumpster, and those did not emit a pleasant smell… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-so-bad-about-a-dumpster-fire/840719.md?page=1)