Fires, fights, and cg etiquette

[BichonLover]

Just witnessed a shouting match by two campers at a SoCal campground where I'm staying this weekend. Am curious to know your thoughts and, if you've ever had this problem, how you handled it.

These two campers had their spaces right next to each other. Camper A started a rather large fire (in a campground-provided firepit) about 18-24 inches away from Camper B's RV. Furthermore, the fire was directly underneath Camper B's large, open side window. This meant that Camper B was getting a lot of heat, soot, and smoke from his neighbor. That's not to mention the real fire hazard to Camper B and his RV.

Camper B politely asked Camper A to move the firepit (which was possible) away from his RV. Camper A told Camper B to "go to hell," and that the fire was in his spot and if he wanted it in that specific location it was his "right."

Camper B asked the cg staff for help, and Camper A swore at the staff, too. To top it off, Camper A jumped in his car -- with the fire still blazing -- and told the cg staff and Camper B that if they touched or extinguished his fire while he was gone that he would "raise some hell." (I guess "hell" is his fav word.) I then left for dinner myself, and when I returned the fire was out and Camper A was gone. Camper B told me the cg staff put out the fire and relocated Camper A to the opposite end of the cg.

Whenever I make a fire in a cg space, I always make a point to situate the pit as far away as possible from anyone who may be next to my space. I also never go away and leave a fire unattended.

So I was wondering what you all thought about this little drama that played out today, and how you make or deal with a fellow camper's fire and smoke. Who was right, Camper A or B? Should the cg have kicked out Camper A for making threats and leaving the blaze unattended? (which is btw a crime in the county). When I see things like this, it makes me more certain that simple, basic consideration for other people is becoming increasingly rare (sigh).

[Gary RVRoamer]

Well, in all the several campgrounds I have worked in, Camper A would have been evicted once he refused to comply with directions about his fire. And for arguing with the staff.

If a fire was that close to my rig, I would have done the same as Camper B - called the office for assistance.

[Wayne MD]

And if cg host doesn't do his duty, perhaps its time for 911 fire to respond to write up the errant about fire control. He was endangering the public here.

[Tallyrver]

I would have to be there ,every case is different ,if my property or family (not in that order) were in danger...I would have put the fire out right there and then. . It would have been up to the other guy how far it would have gone from there.

[TXiceman]

All I can say is there is no known cure for stupid.

Ken

[Brigadoon]

First off building a fire 2 feet from an rv shows a colossal lack of judgment that needs to be addressed immediately. Camper B did the right thing by asking Camper A to correct the situation and then asking for management to intercede when he met resistance. Thankfully management did act and apparently took at least some action to put an end to a situation that would have become worse when Camper A returned. It would have been better if they had him vacate the property. I would not be surprised if they had additional problems with him in his new location in the campground.


What would I do if management had not taken any action to safeguard my rv? I would have called the fire department and the police/sheriffs dept. I may have also vacated my site but I would have still called the authorities.

[Tha_Rooster]

The world is full of idiots, campground management should have put out the fire and ask them the leave.

[new rver]

thats why your seeing less fire rings.a lot of cg that we stayed at have 1 fire pit for whole cg.wouldn't let some one melt my mh. if he did that the whole stay would be bad.for the safty of family we don't confrount people would of ask him to calm it down, than went to cg host if that didn't work we would have left.don't like to get in [Moderator Edit] with any body.
safe travles bob,linda & missy

[chief02]

They walk among us,

[Ken-55]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BichonLover Camper A started a rather large fire (in a campground-provided firepit) about 18-24 inches away from Camper B's RV. Furthermore, the fire was directly underneath Camper B's large, open side window. This meant that Camper B was getting a lot of heat, soot, and smoke from his neighbor. That's not to mention the real fire hazard to Camper B and his RV.

I'd "suggest" to Camper A that he needed to move the fire pit. If he didn't immediately comply, I'd fetch my fire extinguisher, ask my SO to document the situation as I put the fire out.

As Tallyrver said, the next move would have been up to him.

Once the situation was under control, I would get CG management involved since one of us would be moving. No way would I have stayed next to that moron!

[RickO]

I think you did the right thing and I like all of the advice so far. It's really fortunate that nobody involved produced a weapon!

Rick

[a10koaksfed]

I had this situation just a couple months back. Neighbors firepit was up against the site line and due to the narrowness of the sites, almost directly under my slideout. No one was present at the neighbors site, so I took a pre-emptive approach and pointed out the situation to the cg personnel. The stated they would move the fire ring. Situation resolved in advance.

[BryanL]

re "if they touched or extinguished his fire while he was gone that he would "raise some hell."" -- Leaving a fire unattended is a serious safety breach, making threats could be considered assault,

The fundamental problem is, of course, bad campground design but that does not excuse uncivil or illegal behavior.

It appears that this incident hit on three levels. First is being inconsiderate of others in the campground. Second is being rude and obnoxious and argumentative when requested to be considerate. Third is being unsafe in fire site selection and fire management. Inconsiderate fellow campers is something you need to learn to live with. Obnoxious and argumentative starts getting to campground host decisions about eviction considerations. Safety issues bring it to LEO levels, tickets, and related actions.

[xplorer33]

it appears God has a sense of humor, because he sprinkled idiots evenly throughout the planet. a jerk never misses the opportunity to insult everyone around him. so forget about talking to these kind of people, it's what they hope for, a confrontation. instead go to the park authorities and censor the fool.