Halloween night was interesting for us. We had the police stop by.
We have one of those above-ground portable firepit thingies. Basically, a metal bowl that you throw wood in and burn. For Halloween, we include a fire in it as part of our house décor. My wife has a witch costume. Some years we include a cauldron hanging over the fire pit, which really adds to the atmosphere. We didn't have the cauldron this year, but we had a lot of twigs, which we were burning liberally. We also play classical music pieces, like "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" and "Danse Macabre". We don't go all out with the decorations, but the effect is very nice, and we always impress the trick or treaters.
Well, this year, the police weren't as impressed. They seemed to think our fire pit was a fire hazard. They told us we had to put the "spark arresting device" over our fire pit. (i.e. the metal screen cover.)
Ok. Fine. Rules are rules and all that. I'm pretty sure that it was completely safe, based on weather and the way we tended the fire. (Absolutely never left unattended, even for a moment.) Still, we had to put on the spark arrester, and that changed the fire dynamics. We had been feeding it a steady diet of twigs to get some pretty continuous flame going. It was sometimes a bit higher than we wanted I must admit, although the stuff we were burning only lasted a few seconds at the large heights. Just long enough to frighten the neighbors about fire hazards. Once the screen was on top, we couldn't feed as easily, and it tended to dampen the flames, presumably by design.
Anyway, we were thinking how to do things next year. We knew they would remember us, and if we went without the spark arrester, we would get a ticket for sure. I suggested artificial logs. They make nice flame, would fit under the spark arrester, and last just about the perfect amount of time for trick or treating. My wife said that there was a sign on it when we purchased us warning not to use artificial logs in the fire pit. Sure enough, looking at new ones in Lowe's the next day, they all said, "Do not use with manufactured logs."
None said why. Any idea why not? What is it about artificial logs that makes them unsafe for use in a large aluminum bowl?
We have one of those above-ground portable firepit thingies. Basically, a metal bowl that you throw wood in and burn. For Halloween, we include a fire in it as part of our house décor. My wife has a witch costume. Some years we include a cauldron hanging over the fire pit, which really adds to the atmosphere. We didn't have the cauldron this year, but we had a lot of twigs, which we were burning liberally. We also play classical music pieces, like "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" and "Danse Macabre". We don't go all out with the decorations, but the effect is very nice, and we always impress the trick or treaters.
Well, this year, the police weren't as impressed. They seemed to think our fire pit was a fire hazard. They told us we had to put the "spark arresting device" over our fire pit. (i.e. the metal screen cover.)
Ok. Fine. Rules are rules and all that. I'm pretty sure that it was completely safe, based on weather and the way we tended the fire. (Absolutely never left unattended, even for a moment.) Still, we had to put on the spark arrester, and that changed the fire dynamics. We had been feeding it a steady diet of twigs to get some pretty continuous flame going. It was sometimes a bit higher than we wanted I must admit, although the stuff we were burning only lasted a few seconds at the large heights. Just long enough to frighten the neighbors about fire hazards. Once the screen was on top, we couldn't feed as easily, and it tended to dampen the flames, presumably by design.
Anyway, we were thinking how to do things next year. We knew they would remember us, and if we went without the spark arrester, we would get a ticket for sure. I suggested artificial logs. They make nice flame, would fit under the spark arrester, and last just about the perfect amount of time for trick or treating. My wife said that there was a sign on it when we purchased us warning not to use artificial logs in the fire pit. Sure enough, looking at new ones in Lowe's the next day, they all said, "Do not use with manufactured logs."
None said why. Any idea why not? What is it about artificial logs that makes them unsafe for use in a large aluminum bowl?
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