Virginia bans grilling at multi-family dwellings

The Virginian-Pilot ^ | October 22, 2003 | By CINDY CLAYTON

[GeronL]

In our City they just said keep the BBQ grill 8-10 feet away from the overhand. Done. Easy as pie. Whats with these people thinking they have to coddle people? Banning outdoor grilling 'cuz some people might be stupid?

[SandRat]

Politicians appoint Commissioners and protect career bureaucrats. Scare the politicians enough and you scare the career bureaucrats.

[GeronL]

Our city made it simple. Keep the grill 8-10 feet away from the overhang. No muss no fuss.

[TaMoDee]

You got that right. Lived in No. Va for a year. One night
the clown below us must have poured a quart of starter on the Bar-Bee. Looked out the baloncy door just to see the flames going bye. No structure fire but it was scary!

[GeronL]

The Fire bureaucrats did it.

I hate when unelected officials make laws... they can call it a code, a regulation or whatever but it means that politicians handed off responsibility to people who don't have to answer to the people.

[GeronL]

It should be 10 feet from the OVERHANG

Whats under the grill shouldn't count, grass can burn just as easily as wood.. and some porches are made of concrete for goodness sakes.

[microgood]

We are from the governmemt and we are here to help you.

[LasVegasMac]

The new rules are intended to prevent fires, said Glenn Dean, safety engineer with the state fire marshal's office.

``The idea is that you're trying to eliminate the amount of fuel that can leak or migrate,'' Dean said.

and the killer........

Dean said Tuesday he did not have statistics on fires caused by grills in apartments or other multi-unit buildings.

But the anecdotal evidence is there, he said.

Truth be known, I sleep so much better knowing that there are thousands of Mr. Davis's out there....

each and everyone highly concerned with my welfare. Enough so, that they just make decisions like this because, "they know it's bad for sheeple like me.

Bless you, Mr. Davis......

and may you rot in hell.

Have a good weekend, Mr. Davis.

LVM

[Trailerpark Badass]

There was only one nitwit who charred the support beam for the balcony but the manager was told that she couldn't just tell him that he couldn't have a grill while the rest of us used ours so we all are grill-less on our patios.

A BBQ fire at the tinderbox apartment complex I lived in motivated me to get into my first house. Grilling on a 8'x4' balcony, with an 8' overhang, surrounded on three sides by wood siding, is not something you want your average apartment dweller to be trying.

[GeronL]

We are from the governmemt and we are here to help you.

The largest cause of poverty in America

[Corin Stormhands]

Most laws by the legislature are effective July 1. This might have been thru the regulatory process.

[Amadeo]

"Embers that fly out of a charcoal grill onto a wooden deck can burst into flames, Dean said. Fumes from a leaky propane tank can waft into a neighbor's apartment and be ignited by a lit candle or cigarette."

Propane does not "waft into a neighbor's apartment". Look at it's vapor pressure. Propane does not "waft" —it poofs...dissipates rapidly when released from pressure to 1 atm. You have to have a flame right on it to ignite it. It would make more sense to ban cigarettes and candles if you really wanted to prevent apartment fires.

I think they're really going after the so-called "global warming" CO2 like LA did years back. No charcoal grills there either. Wacky stuff.

Indeed Mr. Davis. May you rot in hell.

[Travis McGee]

Hmmm ... I see a solution - grill out away from the building, at least 11 feet away from it (like out on the grass between buildings)!

And I see a most excellent "unintended consequence" of this "common area grilling."

Friends are made. Boys and girls chat and flirt and fall in love. Guitars come out. Jokes are told, and songs are sung. Kids meet other kids to play with. Beers are offered, and chicken is brought out to go with the steaks. Before you know it, the neighbors who pass without looking at one another month after month are pals.

An apartment complex becomes a community.

[dix]

About thirty years ago down here in Houston Woodway Square an eighteen hundred-unit apartment complex burned almost to the ground because some idiot grilling something caught the wood shingle roofs on fire.

Two things occurred. A city ordinance banning the use of wood shingles on any new roofs, or as replacement materials on existing roofs. That was probably a good thing for the following reason. The other thing that occurred was an ordinance banning all grilling within ten feet of a structure. Nobody pays it any mind.

What the social engineers didn’t get is smoking, or grilling meat in Texas is not a privilege. It’s a God given right. They would have to cite, arrest, or whatever just about everybody that dwells in a multi-family unit in town to enforce it. I am sure they feel the same way in Virginia.

BTW, I need to check on the brisket.

[Shooter 2.5]

Any reason this is on the Bang List?

I realize I'm a one issue kind of guy but what does this have to do with firearms and Second Amendment issues?

[tob2]

If people had used their grills responsibly, there would be no need for this law. Not only gas grills, but charcoal ones have caused extensive damage. Property owners have a right to protect their investments. If a person wants to grill their food, let them get one of the many indoor grills on the market.

[SWO]

Shooter 2.5
I'm mostly a one (this) issue guy myself.
Why the * Bang List?
An argument by analogy concerning rule making and the over regulation of an activity which is safe when done by people who think, and not safe in the other event. Just about anything which releases more energy then your muscles can is dangerous when done in the presence of too much drink, drugs or a below average IQ. This is yet another example of legislating (or regulating) to the lowest common denominator by a government which increasingly assumes we’re to stupid to be allowed to figure stuff out for ourselves.
Want to be depressed? Look at the Chat line attached to the article in the Pilot, lots of "Yup this is Good stuff comments."

Also finally, there is no such thing as a “Grill List”

[yankeedame]

But the anecdotal evidence is there, he said.

1)Anecdotal evidence?? Big deal. You can find anecdotal evidence for just about everything under the sun. I don't even think anecdotal evidence is admissable in a court of law.

[Down South P.E.]

Anyone violating the state's new fire prevention code can be charged with a Class 1 misdemeanor, punishable by a year in jail and a possible $2,500 fine.

Fire codes are typically adopted by reference into law and are therefore enforceable as law.

[elbucko]

but the manager was told that she couldn't just tell him that he couldn't have a grill while the rest of us used ours so we all are grill-less on our patios.

Because he could sue, if you could grill and he couldn't. You can laugh, but some attorney would take the case, sue for $50,000 and the landlord/management co. would settle for $20,000, just to make it go away.

A lot of property owners are as frightened of lawyers as they are of a fire. Many of the restrictions on our freedoms and/or priveledges, are the result of lawsuits, rather than government on a power trip.