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Can't demo cook anymore

grillmandan
grillmandan Posts: 270
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
I recently got cited by the local fire marshal for cooking on the Egg in front of my store. This is something I have been doing for 16 years.
The code he cited is NPFA, sec. 10.11.7
That states that I can't have a grill under an overhang or within 10 feet of any structure. This code looks to apply to residential dwellings, but he assured me that it applies to commercial. I am in a strip center, so the only place I can cook is in a valuable parking space. This effectively shuts down any demo cooking I do in front of my store.
Does anyone know where I can get a legal interpretation of the code?
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Comments

  • fire egger
    fire egger Posts: 1,124
    I am busily looking it up right now, what state are you in?
  • WessB
    WessB Posts: 6,937
    Thats BS...I hope you get some good legal advice and can fight it....things just aint what they used to be..and are certainly not the way they should be..
  • Scottborasjr
    Scottborasjr Posts: 3,494
    Just curious where you are at, I can assure you that there are thousands in your community that have a grill, probably gas, on a apartment deck which would obviously be in violation of said code. Did one of your offspring piss off the fire guy? ;):)

    Hope you can get it figured out.
    I raise my kids, cook and golf.  When work gets in the way I'm pissed, I'm pissed off 48 weeks a year.
    Inbetween Iowa and Colorado, not close to anything remotely entertaining outside of football season. 
  • 2Fategghead
    2Fategghead Posts: 9,624
    That just ain't right. :angry: Don't ever give him food. :ermm:
  • Richard Fl
    Richard Fl Posts: 8,297
    Bummer, ride your bike to work and use your normal parking spot, It is over 10 feet from the overhang. Maybe Mr Borders is around.
  • Fidel
    Fidel Posts: 10,172
    I just read the code, and it appears in my opinion that he is correct. It states:

    "For other than one- and two- family dwellings, no hibachi, gas-fired grill, charcoal grill, or other similar devices...shall be used or kindled on any balcony or under any overhanging portion or within 10 ft of any structure...."

    Literal interpretation says you are at his mercy. You could still contact the solicitor or whatever office in your jurisdiction handles such infractions.
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    Fire Marshall can override codes simply by his interpretation. A legal interpretation by someone else is useless. If he says so, that's the way it is

    Can you set up elsewhere? Does it need to be in front of the store? And, lastly, a parking spot doesn't seem like too much of a price to pay if that's the only option
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    A fire Marshall can point at the code where it says "Fidel can make a fire in his livingroom" and then tell you to put out the fire you made in your livingroom
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • fire egger
    fire egger Posts: 1,124
    Ok Dan, Just looked it up in the IFC, international fire codes, your state and or city should have adopted those, they reference the NFPA standard IFC 308.3.1 states " charcoal burners .... shall not be operated on cumbustable balconies or within 10 feet of cumbustable structures exceptions are one and two family dwellings or areas that are protected by automatic sprinklers. is the overhang a cloth awning, and what is the front of your building made out of. I am still looking it up in the NFPA to see what their wording is
  • Little Steven
    Little Steven Posts: 28,817
    My dad worked for our provincial (state) Fire Marshall. He was also a chief in Toronto. They pretty much hold the cards and there is very little, if any, recourse.

    Steve 

    Caledon, ON

     

  • Fidel
    Fidel Posts: 10,172
    maybe, but he'd have a hell of a time chewing his dinner afterwards
  • Little Steven
    Little Steven Posts: 28,817
    There may be something with a screen "bonnet" over the daisy that might make it like a chiminea

    Steve 

    Caledon, ON

     

  • Fidel
    Fidel Posts: 10,172
    I quoted the Florida code above, and it says nothing about combustible. Besides, stike makes a valid point - the law/code is whatever the fire marshal wants it to be....period.
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    I am an utter [expletive deleted] when it comes to building inspectors. I'm paid to know their [expletive deleted] 10 times better than they do. But they, and fire marshalls, have the liberty to invent any requirement they want

    In the interests of public safety, they can make you wear a dunce hat and an asbestos loin cloth while cooking microwaved popcorn for charity
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • fire egger
    fire egger Posts: 1,124
    i didnt know what state he's in. the IFC says combustable, each state can make it more restrictive. many states have a state fire marshall, and one of their main jobs, is to render interpetations on issues that are under dispute between the AHD and citizens.
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    They are uncontestable. Is that even a word?

    The only wink and nod I ever got from a fire Marshall was during a burn ban. I called to
    Ask about a chiminea (viz: "is it 'enclosed'?")

    He said, " if you hear a fire engine coming up the road, just hold a hot dog over the fire. We won't cite you for cooking"
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • Hoss
    Hoss Posts: 14,600
    That's a bummer. :angry: :( Lots of OVERZEALOUS city employees/wannabes around.I would call the mayor and my alderman/councilman. ;) Good Luck.DO NOT call the Health Dept.,they are usually WORSE! :blink: They want everything done in a CERTIFIED commercial kitchen. :whistle: Do not ask me how I know. :laugh:
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    And they will always err on the conservative side

    Pretty much the only government official whose interpretation I take with a nod and a smile followed by a "thank you"
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • Hoss
    Hoss Posts: 14,600
  • Hoss
    Hoss Posts: 14,600
    :blink: Say it ain't so!!! :laugh:
  • Hoss
    Hoss Posts: 14,600
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    I did an end run and microwaved that popcorn bareassed. Showed them

    Nothing on me was gonna catch fire anyway. Like steel wool
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • Little Steven
    Little Steven Posts: 28,817
    From what I know these guys come up through the ranks and are subjected to things most of us couldn't handle. I've seen my own father in bed for weeks after particularly horrific events. I believe that they get the final call on most issues is because they have seen the worst.

    Steve 

    Caledon, ON

     

  • fire egger
    fire egger Posts: 1,124
    thank you. is your father a FF?
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    Man. Seriously?
    Marshall wants it ten feet away. No big deal.
    Anyone cooking under a roof is out of his mind anyway

    Poke your head above the ceiling of a wood framed minimall. Hopefully they have a fire wall between each unit, up to the underside of the roof sheathing. Even if they do, that's a one-hour partition. And the space is going to be wide open.

    Given that most minimalls will have cheap-ass vinyl soffit, stamped with those ugly little holes, and that fire Marshall would have to be incompetent to allow someone to light a fire beneath the thing when he probably has a two acre parking lot to spark the thing off in
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • Hoss
    Hoss Posts: 14,600
    :laugh: I hear ya! That's the way to show em! :blink:
  • Little Steven
    Little Steven Posts: 28,817
    He was. Died of prostate cancer and lung cancer at 74. Go figure. Never smoked, peak of condition etc

    Steve 

    Caledon, ON

     

  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    Exactly. It's all fun and games when we are sh!tfaced at an eggfest and cooking under a roof. But half of his 'clients' (people he has carried from a burning building) were sh!tfaced too
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • fire egger
    fire egger Posts: 1,124
    Sorry to hear that, as a proffession we are slowly learning to protect ourselves, long-term exposures still take a toll
  • TheLazyC
    TheLazyC Posts: 97
    Cook right in the middle of the parking lot, block traffic and create a nuisance. Depending on the size of the parking lot (in our town/state) only the handicap and fire zones can be policed. You can park right in the middle of the driving lane and they cannot do anything about it, so I was told by the local police. Same with the h/c and fire zone, unless there is a sign on a post they cannot give you a ticket, even if painted on the asphalt.