I'm sitting here and I smell smoke. I had a candle lit in the other room on the stove, and it wasn't that, so I had my wife come in and ask her opinion. She smelled it too and thought the computer was overheating (I have a few large Torrent files downloading, you never know!
I open the window and yell to him to ask what the hell he's doing. Now first I should say that this is one of those neighbors who doesn't take care of their lawn. When they cut it, they scalp it, it's overrun with weeds, and the last time I actually saw him cut it was about a week after I had my lawn Hydroseeded last year. The rest of the summer he didn't cut it and it overgrew and is just a mess now. Apparently what he said he was doing is burning the grass because it won't grow, and this will allow it to grow again (it was growing pretty good during the summer...), then he'll rake it up and put down weed pre-emmergent and it will grow.
I'm not a landscaper, aside from mowing I hire someone to take care of my lawn with fertalizer and other treatments, but I have NEVER heard of this practice. I asked if he had a permit and he said that the fire department allows you to do it as long as you tell them that you are. Again
I am just seriously confused by some people..