"Neighboring building"

[Rachel Adams]

Does "a neighboring building" sound natural and should I use "was on fire" instead?
"I woke up and saw that a neighboring building started to burn."

 

[emsr2d2]

Use "was on fire" (or "was ablaze"). Yes, "a neighbouring building" is OK.

 

[Tarheel]

Try:

I woke up and saw that a nearby building was on fire.

 

[emsr2d2]

I would say that a neighbouring building is closer than a nearby building.

 

[Tarheel]

Maybe it's just me, but I consider people neighbors, not buildings.

 

[emsr2d2]

Maybe it's just me, but I consider people neighbors, not buildings.

That's irrelevant to the use of "neighbouring". See HERE.

 

[GoesStation]

That happened to me once. I lived in the apartment above a couple of storefronts in a row of nineteenth-century brick buildings. When I got up one morning, I saw a bunch of fire trucks outside. There had been a gasoline- ("petrol-" in British English) fueled fire in the small mechanic's garage attached to my bedroom wall. The fire was out, but I was somewhat disturbed that the scene commander hadn't thought to check whether the apartment was occupied. The fire had been only ten feet or less from my bed.

 

[Tarheel]

That's irrelevant to the use of "neighbouring". See HERE.

That's a new usage to me.