Dean S

A bit of smoke probably wouldn't get any complaints. I'm more worried about a massive bonfire cloud coming off the forge or a bunch of ash floating around. Living where I do (desert) I have to worry about starting a fire more than anything.

I didn't even think about checking building codes. Thank you for the link I'll go look through but honestly I'll probably just use whatever fuel is available and not to expensive. No point spending loads on what's going to start as a hobby. I'll go edit my profile now lol

I've been interested in getting into forging since I was a kid and now that I have the time and a little start up money (with the Ok from the Mrs) I'm looking into getting my first forge. I really like the ease of a gas forge setup. Turn on when needed and off when you're done but I've always loved the nostalgia and old school feel of a coal forge. My question is about the embers and sparks. I live in a mobile home park and my neighbors are fairly close. How bad are the embers that float off? Am I liable to start a fire if I'm even remotely close to a house? My fire would be about 4ft from the back wall of my house. I live in southern California and its generally pretty dry here so I'd like be taking appropriate precautions