FIRE Pit in back yard

What do you think is a fair distance from neighbor's house and or garage from your fire pit to be a good neighbor?

The distance in feet does not come into play as long as conditions are safe for a fire.

That said, any issues?

Warm weather, neighbors with open windows?

Neighbor with respiratory issues?

Etc., etc.

Too many variables..........

If it has become an issue, talk to your neighbors.

Code around here mandates that a fire pit, bbq, etc be a minimum of 10 feet from the nearest building. That's for safety, being considerate is another thing.

Me, I don't care it's the same as a chimney on a fireplace from my point of view.

I think that the number of people that would be gathered around it would also be a factor.

I don’t.

I don't think everyone's backyard needs to be a campground if you live in town .. a nice small quiet evening fire maybe 30 inches around is one thing but, a roaring fire 10 foot in diameter less than ten feet from someone's buildings is a bit much .

Not to mention, noisy generator running to power up the camper parked in the driveway as well

it is dry here normally we have a few inches of snow on the ground, lots of leaves .. fire would start easy, they go in leave it unattended at night, still roaring ..pretty selfish I think

there is more to this story?

More like .. ?

Pretty simple, would you in town build a fire pit near your neighbor's structures ..?


No more to it than that

How big are the lots in your area? Ours are 1 acre. Mine is roughly 175' x 275'ish. My firepit lives in the center of the backyard...I use common sense when burning and have no issues with the neighbors......they all have pits as well.

You sure as heck implied there is more to the story.

But no I would not build a fire pit near my neighbor's structures, in town or otherwise. But then again I don't have a postage sized lot that you can spit out your window and hit your neighbor's house either. IOW, there is nowhere on my lot I could build a fire pit and be within 10ft, or less, of my neighbor's structures even if I wanted to. Setbacks are a thing around here.

Fire codes are pretty universal and a 10 ft minimum clearance between a fire pit and a structure is a minimum. Call the Fire Marshal.

I'm designing one for my back yard, but the issue I am most concerned with, and not yet mentioned, is overhead and nearby trees.
Any falling debris/limbs, etc could cause things to go sideways fairly quickly. My current design will be in a sunken circular pit with seating surrounding a center fountain.
It will be propane fueled fire pit, as its strictly for cosmetics.

My Garage is the left .. my wall is pictured, the property line is right at the edge of the trees .. you can see their fire pit , all those parts of a tree are on my property .

the fire pit is 18 feet from my property , the neighbor just can't understand why I ask her not to start fires and then go to bed

A normal fire I wouldn't have an issue with, a bonfire yes.

An unattended fire is probably a violation of code too and unacceptable regardless.

We get a lot of enjoyment out of ours.

Great to cop some drinks, and watch satellites pass over, or planes initiating their landing approach to St. Louis International Airport (we are about 20 miles from the runways).

Walk into your local fire department and ask them. I'll (almost) guarantee you that your town/county have ordinances that cover size, location, etc...of fire pits.

Comet, i really like your waterfall garden pool !
any fish in it ?

Looks like a Koi in Comet's pond.

From what I can tell, the firepit in Bigdad's photo looks too close to his garage & trees, and a rather inconsiderate or rude thing to do.
Looks to be sized for a bonfire as well, not exactly brilliant near trees.
And if the neighbor doesn't understand unattended fires, I'd be concerned; that's a bad combination.
Agree that the local Fire Dept may have an opinion and require a change of location.

Why a fire pit? If you want heat get one of these.

well, to add fuel to the fire (no pun intended) lol , I called the local town police under 1000 people, and I asked those questions and at this time no, there is not ..pretty surprising, told me it is before the city council to make some rules so I will be present to voice my thoughts.

and then the officer apparently nothing better to do , chose to stop by neighbor's fire and noise, told them they were within their rights and i called him so of course, we had a little drama after he left , good lord just what I needed.


they moved here from Colorado about 6 months ago, the lady is not so bad, the husband on the other hand tends to be a little difficult ( lol ) ..she refers to her place as being " in the country " , " that's why we moved here so we could have fires at night , Colorado you couldn't "


well imagine that ,

Over and over, I tried to tell her that she was not acting very neighborly .. or practicing fire safety.

she just could not understand how her fire affected me or anyone else in anyway .. feels there is zero chance of the fire jumping out of her fire pit
I admit I do worry too much , born that way can't help it .


she says, I watch the fire from my bedroom , it goes out before I go to sleep (bat vision apparently)..


we argued until I was worn smooth and said , you think about it and I will as well , shes out there right now picking up the mess and maybe she understands a bit better today in the light ..

I assure you I will do my due diligence, get in front of the council , and she won't need to quote the police saying " he has no right to complain " ..


should I call the police and ask him why he threw me under the bus ?

Thanks Moparx. That photo actually placed “3rd” in the National Aquacape magazine contest, circa 2004. I think I won
several hundred dollars back then.

Yes, it used to be a koi pond. Many were named (Chiquita, Halloween, Comet, Jake and Gracie, and many others). Quite a few got upwards of five pounds, were hand tamed, and loved to be hand fed and petted.

BUT… we live on a three acre lot (one acre yard, two wooded).

We were constantly loosing Koi to hawks, herons, raccoons, etc… despite many, many preventative measures: Infrared sprinklers, yada yada.

And Koi (gotta love ‘em!) are high maintenance. They also like to tear up aqua plants, causing water filtration issues.

We lost the last of the Koi about three years ago, switching over to quality Goldfish. They are much more passive, and don’t need routine feedings as they nibble on ambient pond matter.

Sure miss those Koi tho. Wife says she’ll never “name” a fish again. Too heartbreaking when a trained old buddy disappears.

Our oldest, and one of the best trained Koi was Sharky. Yes, looked just like a shark..especially in color. He lasted around 14 years.

Not sure why critters don’t bother the Goldfish. But they don’t seem to.

FISH KILLER!



Other residents:

Burn away branches and sticks that fall on the yard, easier to burn papers than shred them. I don't have one myself, not a fan of fire.

I was burning in my fire pit the other day some small branches that had dried leaves on them. All 3 cars I had in the driveway got small gray ash remnants from the leaves. You see them floating up off the fire when burning, they all landed on my cars with no damage done to paint since they were cooled down enough when landing. I had to power wash my cars off. Had it been a neighbor burning next door and having all this ash float and land on my cars I would have been royally PISSED! So even if you don't let the fire get away from you ... you can still cause a nuisance for a neighbor.

luckily I live on 2+ acres and have plenty of elbow room.

its not that the lot is small .. its that they choose to do it in the farthest corner .. next to ,my garage ..

Weird the cop come around but at the same time if something was out of place it might of helped you.

My fire pit is a old tractor rim....im pretty rural, cant keep these pests out of my yard and they spook me when I walk to and from the shop with there noisy wings odd sounds.

Can only kill and eat so many of these things.

Just asking, but isn't it a risk in itself to stack firewood(?) under trees, AND near your building?
Of course the nearby neighbors fire pit, and their propensity to leave it unattended is IMO a perfect storm in the making.

What's the matter, Barry, could you smell my burning sneakers from the other night??

I have a fire pit behind my house. its about 15 ft from the back of the enclosed patio. Mine is about 3 ft across and MAYBE 12" deep
And I live on a little over 3/4 of an acre so the neighbors are quite a bit away from me....... Far enough I cant hear them during a normal conversation . kids yelling whilst jumping in their pool is another matter. But not loud or often enough it bothers me


When we have a fire I try to keep it reasonable . As living in dry AZ desert has its pitfalls during certain times of the year . Plus I have no tall trees anywhere near the pit

100% yes , she must of heard part of my message at least , they worked all day Saturday cleaning that mess up and stacked the wood on their side of the trees and raked up all the dead leaves that were under all that mess ..
but, they don't understand what's legal is not always right .

This style of backyard trash burner is amazing if you have never seen one in action.
Much safer and faster.

https://www.elastec.com/products/portable-incinerators/smartash/

Well at least they removed their property from yours, that’s a start.

That's a pain if it's a warm night and you want the windows open and the wind is blowing smoke from a dying fire into your house.

I have lovely neighbors who BBQ, smoke, grill, and have a big fire pit. They are considerate about making sure everything is OUT before they leave the yard.

Its called civility.

Back yard fire pit ?

Not a "rare" event?

that would burn me up

How far is it to her house? It looks like they cared more about themselves then their neighbors when they built it. Not just for the fire but also having a group of people so close.

Starts a fire and leaves it? In just about all areas it's illegal to leave it unattended. Id call the fire department every time that happens.

Careful jcc...Ol doc is stocking up on smart water for seniors!

--Currently there is no law but, I suspect that may change others in town have complained

I saw earlier in the thread that you asked the police. IMO you asked the wrong folks. The fire dept is who will know fire regulations.

I'd have gone there or more likely to Code Enforement.