Grafton ... top story

[MaineShark]

So... they should be pretty cheap to bribe?

Joe

[Lex]

So... they should be pretty cheap to bribe?

At least as far as the fire and ambulance departments are concerned since they are 100% volunteer nobody is in it for the money. As someone who has been on both the Grafton Fire Department and Ambulance Department for more than a few years I have not seen, heard or suspected any bribery going on.

I can't speak for any of the other town government departments but I suspect there isn't any bribery, favoritism maybe, but I doubt there is any bribery. (Granted, favoritism is worse than bribery in my opinion.)

[MaineShark]

Yeah, so if they're not getting bribe offers regularly, a couple hundred bucks ought to go far!  If they were getting bribed all the time, the price would be higher.

Joe

[Lex]

Yeah, so if they're not getting bribe offers regularly, a couple hundred bucks ought to go far!  If they were getting bribed all the time, the price would be higher.

Fire permits are free, why would you bribe someone to get one (or not get one)?

If you don't want one then don't get one but there is a chance someone with a badge will confront you about it as happened in this case.

I'm not arguing for or against fire permits, just trying to provide facts.

[K. Darien Freeheart]

Fire permits are free

But you and agraftonite know well, as do I, that the issuance of those permits depends on the willingness or ability of a bureaucrat to actually issue one. It took me over a MONTH to get one, even being free and even with a so-called Libertarian issuing them.

This is during the period where Mike had his fire. Even if he had WANTED one, and I understand fully why he doesn't, he likely couldn't have gotten one then.

[Lex]

Fire permits are free

But you and agraftonite know well, as do I, that the issuance of those permits depends on the willingness or ability of a bureaucrat to actually issue one. It took me over a MONTH to get one, even being free and even with a so-called Libertarian issuing them.

This is during the period where Mike had his fire. Even if he had WANTED one, and I understand fully why he doesn't, he likely couldn't have gotten one then.

John didn't have the permits to issue at the time so he could not issue them. I presume there are bureaucratic hoops (forms to fill out, etc) that he had to jump through to get a 2010 permit issuing booklet. While a fire chief can issue fire permits, it's mostly the job of the fire warden. See: http://www.nhdfl.org/fire-control-and-law-enforcement/permits.aspx

Also, Merle can issue fire permits. He's on full time, so if you want to get a permit, there is no reason not to be able to get a hold of him. I believe he issues the majority of the fire permits in Grafton since he's almost always available.

[AntonLee]

man it would be a real bummer to get all set to have some hot dogs and realize you didn't have the proper paperwork.  While your tummy is growling you can seek out the popo or get turned away from a bureaucrat without the necessary papers.

Maybe you should just start the fire and eat.

[FreelanceFreedomFighter]

Maybe you should just start the fire and eat.

Wow... novel concept... I'm sure the bureaucrats would never approve!

[Lloyd Danforth]

Hibachi

[Tom Sawyer]

Flatlander     

[AntonLee]

I've been called that a bunch of times.  I don't have a hibachi.  I like open fires instead. 

[Lex]

Practically speaking the only thing the permit does is prevent the folks up in the watch tower (on Cardigan in our case) from calling the fire department to your house if they see smoke. If you have a permit they assume you're having your permitted burn if you do not have a permit then they assume your house is on fire and send a fire department.

I suppose it's possible that if you have a permit for brush fire and your house catches on fire the folks up in the tower may delay calling the fire department thinking that you're just burning brush... Of course when a house is on fire the smoke color and pattern is different, etc. So, it's circumstantial.

I can't speak for every fire fighter but in general it benefits us if people get fire permits because then we don't get called out to false alarms, especially when cooking your hot dog over a giant fire pit and the watch tower thinks your house is on fire.

[AntonLee]

I wonder if the smoke patterns are different between a "giant" (you said it not me) firepit and the entire state of NH burning down.

does Hoyt Farm have a fire permit?  I was hoping to bring marshmellows.  Everyone knows that if you get a fire permit there's no way the fire could leave the pit and burn anything else down.  Physically impossible. 

but if you don't get one, you might get your property rights violated by lots of busybodies who know more about fire than you.

like a fireman I spent the weekend with, nice guy, totally against volunteer fire departments.   He started a fire about 20 feet wide about 2 feet from the woods.  Nice canopy above, lots of leaves and pineneedles.  Few logs were leaning up against standing trees and also in the pit at the same time.  No hose in sight.  I guess the fact that the entire state didn't burn down is due to his superior training and his magical permit.   (or maybe it was because some moron named Anton connected two hoses to the other side of the house and began spraying down the forest when it started smouldering)

FireTower to Command, I see a large part of Belknap county on fire. . . . "must be a false alarm, he has a permit"

[Kat Kanning]

For some reason, Mr. Fire Chief didn't hand us a permit this year.  /shrug

[Lex]

I wonder if the smoke patterns are different between a "giant" (you said it not me) firepit and the entire state of NH burning down.

I'm admittedly not very knowledgeable about the smoke patterns of entire states burning down, I would think though, given that most of the state is trees that it would be a forest fire pattern dictated by the type of foliage burning, wind, humidity, temperature, etc.

The smoke pattern/color from your fire pit will depend on the design of your pit and what you're burning.