A number of neighbours in our subdivision and others will soon be back to burning firewood again.
When you have neighbours who burn firewood from as early as the first week of September until as late as June, that leaves us with approximately three and a half months that we can have our windows open.
On cool, grey, rainy days, our subdivision always appears to be full of fog but it is smoke. With no wind to dissipate the smoke, it hangs in the trees, floats around our houses.
Everything we do outside during these months involves breathing wood smoke and if it’s outside the house it’s inside the house, which leaves our house smelling like a campground. Even when we take our dog out, she ends up coming back in the house stinking of smoke. I have to wonder where the concern is for the health of those of us living under these circumstances when twice I have voiced my concerns to our local government and I’m told nothing can be done.
We need to seriously consider anybody’s right to add more pollution to our airshed. If we in Abbotsford are going to be concerned over what other municipalities might do to add more pollution to our airshed then I also believe that we should also be concerned with what goes on in our own backyards.
It’s time to put the firewood away.
Michelle Pitzel