Mattress Fire

Last Saturday was a beauty in Brownsville... sunny, blue skies, mid seventies. A great day to open the windows and breathe in the air only Brownsville can produce. Burning shingles, mattresses, couches, asbestos, etc. It's burn day in Brownsville, and we LOVE to burn!

Except that the borough has an ordinance against it. So we called 911, asked the police to come out and enforce the law. The neighbor was burning debris from a remodeling job and had a queen size mattress as an accelerant. I ran into the officer as he was contemplating doing his job. He dutifully took my name and then informed me it is OK to burn mattresses in Brownsville. My first thought was to highlight this with the visitor's bureau or a better way to market the community.

Give me your tired, your old,Your disregarded furniture to burn as we yearn to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the mattresses, shingles, couches, to me:
Visit Brownsville's smoldering doors.

Wow, I digress.

I dutifully informed the officer that, in fact, this resident was actually violating three portions of the code (1) only burn yard debris (2) tend the fire and (3) can't be a nuisance. He did have a chat with the neighbor and they did let the fire burn out, some 2 days later.

I was doing some yard work across the street later that day and I heard from their porch... "he's the one that called the police on us".... a few minutes later "he's the one that called the police on us"... a few minutes later "the officer told me that he's the one that called the police on us".

This had to happen at least six times. I choose to ignore it, was not taking the bait that day.

Makes you wonder about privacy laws when your identity from 911 calls is not held in confidence.

To protect and serve.