A new neighbour on one side of me thought he had found the perfect solution to his green waste problem. He would wait until 5-6 in the evening, pour kerosene all over it and set it alight. Took me a while to work it out, but he'd mow around 4:30, next thing I could smell kero and gas fumes, then there was a fire with flames coming up over my fence. Worst thing was the wind was blowing towards me. I'd cop clouds of black choking smoke and it bothered other people in the street too. Neighbors on other side of me both have asthma and bronchitis problems. One time it rained embers into my yard which were still alight. We had clothes on the line one day and windows open. By the time we got the clothes in and the windows shut it was too late. The curtains were black and the clothes had to be washed two times to get the smell out. Waste of time talking to this fellow. He claimed it was his right and said it was something he has always "liked to do". He called it "cleaning up". I got sick of it after the third time and reported him to council and they had a word with him. So far so good, there has been no more smoke. Why he would mow and burn off the clippings at such a late hour was beyond me. I had piles of timber stacked nearby on my side and was worried it might go up and take the shed with it. All I can think is he must get sick of his wife nagging him about the lawn, so he gets on the grog before getting out there to tackle the problem. He seemed to think he was in total control of the fires. One day it nearly got away from him and he had to get the hose. I have no doubt he was setting fire to it and going back inside for a nap. It was a disaster just waiting to happen.
