Could ashes from our bonfire have ruined the paint on neighbor's car?

A. @Mike Deborde: Yes it is very possible to have done so, ash when mixed with water or moisture can eat through a clear coat due to the fact that ash contains calcium and potassium which can be corrosive when mixed with water or moisture.

Indeed, lye for soap-making has historically been made from nothing but wood ashes and water. So the theory is there alright, but I find it highly doubtful and, again, a 12 year old car is a 12 year old paint job. There are lots of worn-out 12 year old paint jobs.

Luck & Regards,

Excuse me Mike, but I live in California, and the embers from our fires here can travel for 1/4 to 1/2 mile. If the bonfire is large and vigorous and the fire-tenders are not careful, a bonfire can do the same, especially if the wind is up. If I am wrong, please explain.

A. Hi, Mike. It does sound unlikely that ashes would burn the paint on a car 400 foot away, but ash can theoretically have a chemical effect. The paint on your neighbor's 11-12 year old car is 11-12 years old; but maybe you can offer them their choice of a $199 paint job or a $199 detailing.

Regards,

A. If the neighbors car doesn't have the factory paint on it they may be right. Have it buffed first, that might take care of the issue.

A. No offense, but it sounds like your neighbor isn't the nicest person.

Unless they are threatening with legal action (and you get a summons or other documents from court and they get all quiet) I would suggest ignoring them.

There is a snowball's chance in death valley of any embers reaching their car 400 feet away and being hot enough to damage the clear coat.

Tell them to suck it up, realize that their car is 10 years old, the paint is 10 years old, and they need to dig into their own pockets to pay for it.

A. Hello Lewis, It's time to take this idiot to court and file suit. I can't believe that local authorities do nothing. Obviously you and your family are entitled to breathing decent air. As far as having to replace electric meters because of heat damage, that will also be part of your lawsuit.

A. If the guy is bringing trash in his personal or business vehicles, to his residential-zoned property, which is not a transfer station or waste treatment facility, for the purpose of incineration/disposal, he's most likely violating a bunch of federal regulations- failing to register as a waste transporter, failing to register as a receiving facility, failure to use pollution prevention apparatus on a trash incinerator, the list goes on.
Both the DOT and the EPA would be involved in shutting him down and slapping him with fines that would make his head spin. I'll betcha he's got a few OSHA violations too, but your number one help is going to be the EPA. Here's a link to the EPA complaint submission for Region 7, r7cidtips@epa.gov is the complaint email:
https://www.epa.gov/mo/forms/contact-us-about-epa-missouri
Here's the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, in case you think he's illegally transporting hazmat for disposal in a personal or non placarded business vehicle:
https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/regulations/hazardous-materials/fmcsa-stateregional-hazardous-materials-contacts

This type of situation has the potential to be EXTREMELY expensive for you to attempt to litigate privately as it will require professional air, water, and soil sampling that you'll have to pay for out of pocket, expert witnesses to interpret the results when and if it ends up in court, attorneys fees even if it doesn't, and if the guy isn't a corporation with assets, you might not see much of a settlement... and a win isn't guaranteed. Which is why you also could have a hard time finding someone to litigate it to begin with. The big environmental court cases you see in the news are mostly class-action lawsuits with multiple plaintiffs and big assets to grab as compensation- better odds for an attorney or firm to take a gamble. You won't likely see Broke Bubba the Backyard Burner getting slapped with a class action from the whole neighborhood. The best attorney STILL can't squeeze blood out of a turnip.
Luckily the EPA and DOT exist to make sure things don't get to that level. Your local authorities might not know what to do but you can be dead certain the EPA will have some ideas!
Document, document, document. Take photos when you can, be sure to document time/date, if you see him hauling 55 gallon drums, old paint cans, etc. in his truck, take photos and/or describe them, note if he does a large burn shortly afterwards. Just send your evidence to the feds. They will be the most direct in handling this type of mess. If they don't, and the guy gets away with it for years and then abandons the property, it gets very expensive for them, up to and possibly including Superfund/brown fields type remediation. So they absolutely want to make sure he's financially responsible for cleanup while he is still in legal possession of the property!