Mama Diaries

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Grass Fire

A few days ago, I smelled smoke.  My kids did, too.  "Mama, what's that smell?"

I didn't see anything in the house, so I went outside.  The entire neighborhood was enveloped in a shroud of smoke.  And it smelled awful.  It seemed my neighbor's house was the culprit.  Smoke billowed out from their backyard.

"Mom, their house is on fire!" my son yelled.

I wasn't sure if their house was on fire, or if there was something completely out of control going on back there.  But I did what most sane people would do.  I called 911.

The firetrucks arrived, along with a squadron of police cars and an ambulance.  Apparently a few other neighbors were concerned, and did the same thing as me.

The firefighters went behind the neighbor's house to investigate.  About ten minutes later, they came back and hooked up their hoses to the fire hydrant.  Then they marched back to soak down whatever was causing the smoke.

When they were finished, my husband went out to ask the firemen what had happened.

"They were burning grass," one of the firemen said. "It just produced a ridiculous amount of smoke."

Now here's the weird part of the story.  Apparently, grass burning is quite common here in Georgia.  I'm not talking a pile of grass clippings.  I'm talking an entire yard of planted Bermuda grass.    As you walk around the neighborhoods here, you will see blackened yards.  I thought at first it was dirt or some kind of odd fertilizer that people were putting down. But no.  They literally set their yards on fire to make the grass black.  Why?  Because they think setting their grass on fire will make their grass greener when it comes back.

Haven't these people heard of aeration or fertilizer? They'd rather set the whole neighborhood on fire? This Yankee doesn't get it.  All I have to say is, Oy Gewalt!



Before I leave, I'd like to say thank you to everyone who visited epublishing blog where I am a guest.  Thank you for sharing the article (if you haven't seen it, it's still up).  I know you're all busy with the A-Z challenge, so it means a lot that you took the time to hop over there!  You're awesome!

68 comments:

  1. Interesting post Sherry, we get a lot of grass fires in the New Forset close by to us.
    Yvonne.

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  2. hmmm what a bunch of nut jobs. Who thought of this idea? Maybe your town has a ring of pyromaniacs hiding out

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  3. My goodness, how scary. Don't the emergency services do a great job?

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    1. It's crazy! And yes, emergency services do an excellent job!

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  4. Its quite scary what your neighbours did. Good you called 911. In India people have the habit of burning dried leaves, it creates too much smoke and pollutes the atmosphere.

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    1. That's interesting. The majority of our neighbors are Indian and Asian. I wonder if they brought this habit from their homeland.

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  5. At least it was during the day. They like to do it at night here.
    You're also featured at Medeia's today!

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    1. It was in late evening. Crazy! Thanks for telling me about Medeia's blog. I had no idea!

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  6. I have never heard of doing that...I wonder if it works? I might get kicked out of the neighborhood if I try it here in Connecticut!!

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    1. If they tried that in Cincinnati or Cleveland, it wouldn't fly!

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  7. I don't dare burn our grass...I'm sure the only thing that would grow back is the weeds.

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  8. i think i have heard of this with farm land but not regular old yard grass!

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    1. I can kind of understand doing this to farm land - but not residential land!

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  9. That is crazy, not to mention dangerous. I'm surprised it's legal.

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  10. Yeah, I've heard of grass burning, but usually to clear a field for planting, not to beautiful the yard. Strange.

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  11. That kind of thing where I Iive would bring on a very stiff fine or legal action. We take fire very seriously here.

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    1. Where I'm originally from, it wouldn't be tolerated.

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  12. I've herd of burning leaves, but not grass.

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  13. I hate people who like to set things on fire in their yards. And also people who love to cut down trees.... When my neighbour set some leaves on fire while me was drying my laundry in the yard, I sent my cat to poop in his garden as a revenge....

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  14. My mom once set out yard on fire to burn up the grass so she could have a different kind. I've never seen anyone else do that, and we didn't live in Georgia.

    Love,
    Janie

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    1. Crazy stuff going on here in the peach state!

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    2. OUR yard, not out yard. The editor is embarrassed.

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  15. Hi Sherry, I hadn't heard about setting the grass on fire, but I must confess, I 'm tempted. Maybe a little fire would help my less than green lawn. Will check out the epublishing guest article. Enjoy the A to Z. Maria from Delight Directed Living

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    1. Thanks for stopping by. Get green grass by aerating. Don't burn it!

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  16. Burning grass to make it grow greener is really bizarre. Apparently we're having a problem with Japanese Knotwood, here in the UK. It was brought here by the Victorians and it grows through concrete into people's living rooms - everywhere. I doubt if burning would get rid of it, either.

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    1. A tree that grows through concrete? That's crazy! It sounds indestructible!

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  17. Haha! That's crazy! I've never heard of that and I've lived in the South all my life. Guess they do things different in Georgia! :)

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  18. This is first time I heard about setting fire to grass to make it come up greener. Obviously they mean the new shoots. What if a lawn mower is used? Wont the new shoots be green?

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  19. A controlled burn in the backyard - I'm with you, too worried I'd catch my own house or the entire neighborhood on fire.

    M. J.
    A - Z Co-Host
    http://mjjoachim.blogspot.com
    http://effectivelyhuman.blogspot.com
    http://lotsofcrochetstitches.blogspot.com

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    1. People just don't seem to think about this around here.

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  20. I have never heard of this before. I wouldn't want to smell or see that.

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  21. I lived in Georgia earlier in my life, but never saw anyone doing that. Doesn't sound like a 'homegrown' remedy to me. Georgia gets dry in the summer. . .

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    1. It may be an Asian thing to do. There are a lot of Asians living here, and another blogger mentioned it's done in India.

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  22. In California most areas prohibit that, however, I still smell it where I am at and hoping one day will never happen.
    Katy Did

    Life's Ride In Between

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    1. With California's fires, I can definitely see why it's prohibited. It should be banned everywhere.

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  23. In my hometown in BC, Canada grass burning is quite common this time of year as well. So much so that the city put bans in place stating when people can undertake burning. Even the municipal groundskeepers burn sections of crown land, however I think this is to get rid of dead debris and help cut down the chance of forest fires. It does stink something awful.

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    1. Hmmm. There is certainly a better way than burning the grass!

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    1. It's one of the oldest ways to fertilize your soil. It's been done for thousands of years. Just don't do it where people live. That's just plain rude.

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  25. Seriously?? I'm with you - wouldn't fertilizer be easier?!

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    1. Yes. Fertilizer is much better than burning down the neighborhood!

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  26. I have never heard of this way of making lawns greener! Sounds like it could be dangerous. I can only imagine the smell. Glad no one was hurt- and I hope their grass is greener. Yikes!

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    1. Their grass is quite black now. We'll see if there's an improvement in a few weeks.

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  27. Weird, but I have it heard it's a way to make things grow better. It's one of the reasons forests tend to really bounce back after a fire. Talk about air pollution, though! Gross.

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    1. And with all the Atlanta traffic, more air pollution is definitely not what we need!

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  28. I have never heard of such a thing. It just verifies how varied our country is from one area to the next. Does it actually grow back at all?

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  29. I've never heard of grass-burning before. Sounds crazy to me, to be honest!

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  30. I've never heard of grass burning before!.. seems odd, but then my mum ( who's from Montserrat has told me often that after a volcanic eruption, the land is restored more fertile and lush than ever! not for some time, but its very green island so there's something in 'Ash'
    For the back yard.. I would have just got grass seeds and fertilizer!

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  31. People do some really crazy things, don't they! First time I've heard of grass burning.

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