Allotments 4 All

I just wanted to place a timely warning on here.  Yesterday morning in Hartlepool an elderly man lost his life, when his allotment cabin went up in flames and burnt to the ground in just twenty minutes.  The fire services were called but his body was found just outside  his cabin door.  He was known to have a stove in his cabin, which may have been the major factor in what appears to have been a tragic accident.  Apparently he was the type of old gardener who would stop to talk to anyone, had worked his plot for years, and was very friendly and helpful.  The local community is very sad to have lost him, especially in this way.

Nasty.
One of our old timers burnt down his shed recenty - had a fire too close and up it went, very old dry timber.  He was fine but it served to reiterate the need for buckets of water when you are having a fire..

I wonder whether the fire killed him, or whether he had a heart attack or something, and perhaps couldn't look after something burning in the shed?

This is very very sad, poor man.

Some people have strange mind sets about fire - they seem to think the boundaries of their allotment will contain it, in some magic way.

Eg I lived once in a row of cottages with allotment type narrow gardens behind them. One man lit a huge fire on his, oblivious of the fact that the neighbouring plot had a shed a few inches away from the fire. Of course the shed started to burn, and it was only because I happened to have a connected hose which I dragged across and aimed at both the fire and the shed that it was not badly damaged.

Similarly, my current plot neighbour, a nice friendly man and now our allotment treasurer (an accountant) - lit a big bonfire a path's width away from my psb netting. I arrived to find a huge melted gap in my expensive netting and he did not seem at all apologetic - just surprised.

A previous secretary on our site burnt a hole in the boundary fence ::)

poor fella,very sad and must be pretty rotten for his lottie mates too
Thanks for the warning

we arent allowed to have fires on our allotments, not even allowed to smoke a cigarette.

Quote from: CambourneSandra on March 15, 2012, 21:45:12
we arent allowed to have fires on our allotments, not even allowed to smoke a cigarette.

wow how is that policed,for want of a better word?

We are a non smoking site too and you can't have a beer either as Provincial laws forbid it in public places.

No fires either

XX Jeannine

Quote from: CambourneSandra on March 15, 2012, 21:45:12
we arent allowed to have fires on our allotments, not even allowed to smoke a cigarette.

Being a none  smoker,  what could be worst than being on your lotty with the smell of f*g smoke in the air, well done to your Fuhrer, :)

Tragic news,and our condolences go to his family.

I too have a gas ring in my shed for a brew and yes I know it can be dangerous if not looked after.

Gazza

Quote from: Jeannine on March 15, 2012, 21:56:42
We are a non smoking site too and you can't have a beer either as Provincial laws forbid it in public places.

No fires either

XX Jeannine

I won't be emmigrating to Canada then.

Quote from: Poolcue on March 15, 2012, 22:45:52

Quote from: Jeannine on March 15, 2012, 21:56:42
We are a non smoking site too and you can't have a beer either as Provincial laws forbid it in public places.

No fires either

XX Jeannine

I won't be emmigrating to Canada then.

this is obviously a firey issue and im so sorry for off thread...however...my OH smokes,and i hate it  for obvious reasons,but i cant say it would affect anyone else on our site,except for me

Quote from: elvis2003 on March 15, 2012, 22:49:34

Quote from: Poolcue on March 15, 2012, 22:45:52

Quote from: Jeannine on March 15, 2012, 21:56:42
We are a non smoking site too and you can't have a beer either as Provincial laws forbid it in public places.

No fires either

XX Jeannine

I won't be emmigrating to Canada then.

this is obviously a firey issue and im so sorry for off thread...however...my OH smokes,and i hate it  for obvious reasons,but i cant say it would affect anyone else on our site,except for me

Dunno I am often down wind of Mr Faggy man >:(
(ok ex- smoker yes - we are the worst :-[ :-[ :-[)

Our allotment is great, you can do almost anything, smoke have fires, drink beer, we all get a bit of meat and have a BBQ on the weekend we have a fry up, i get eggs from my chickens, someone brings the sausages and bacon, before you know it there's about 6 to 10 of us all races creeds and colours having a brue and putting the world to rights, great community spirit (yea even spirit!!  ;D )

poor old guy died in his allotment shed last year just a few plots up fro me ,  he lived in an old peoples home, and he apparently hated it, and 1/2 lived in his shed, at least he died in peace and where he loved, I looked at it that way, instead of it being unfortunate

Like Robert said "He may have had a heart attack". He may have been having a nap. Something obviously happened to stop him from leaving his shed when it was on fire.
I would love a smoking ban everywhere but then I an an ex smoker and paying the price for it.

Very sad for the old gentleman.

What a nanny state we are when it suits us.Many non smokers think nothing of using their car or
travelling on a plane that lets so much crap into the air.

I have no problem with the indoor smoking ban but outside............no way. :P :P :P

It does seem over the top. We're all non-smokers, and a friend of my wife's died as a result of passive smoking. We hate having peoples' smoke imposed on us, but outdoors surely affects nobody but the smoker.

My neighbour nearly burnt the hedge last year; the leaves were killed over several feet, and everything was so dry it would have gone like nobody's business. But it didn't happen, and that's the end of it as far as I'm concerned. Fires are fine in their place, but they're not a good idea in a drought, or a few inches from someone's shed!

I am amazed at the number of people on my site who have a fire then go home leaving it burning. i always have buckets of water already filled just in case and soak it before leaving.
Someone had a fire about 4 metres from my shed and I thought that was too close.