A Burning Issue

May 10, 2023

As a resident of South Frontenac, I am baffled by this area’s obsession with burning stuff. Neighbours in all directions regularly burn stuff in their backyard, in firepits, burn barrels, outdoor furnaces or various homemade incinerators. I’m not talking about wood burning as an affordable source of home heating, and I also understand the appeal of sharing an occasional evening campfire with friends or family, but making a fire just to get rid of stuff makes no sense. Our garbage and recyclables are picked up every week—there’s no need to burn any of that. Leaves and yard waste can be piled in a corner to make free fertilizer for your lawn and garden. Leaves, for that matter, don’t even need to be raked up—just run over them with your mower and leave them on the lawn to keep your grass even greener.

By now, I think we are all well informed of the hazards of cigarette smoke, and do our best to protect our children from second-hand smoke. What makes you think all that smoke from your backyard fires is any different?

According to the US EPA, the components of wood smoke and cigarette smoke are quite similar and both contain significant carcinogens. EPA researchers estimate the lifetime cancer risk from wood smoke to be 12 times greater than from a similar amount of cigarette smoke. Add some garbage or plastics to the fire, and the amount of toxins is even greater.

I enjoy having the windows open this time of year, but many evenings we are forced to close them because of smoke throughout the village. And even closed windows can’t keep it out…another EPA study found that smoke particles are so tiny that they seep into houses allowing indoor pollutant levels to reach as high as 70 percent of the outside pollution levels. In an urban village setting, the smoke is inescapable. 

A wood and brush burning fire produces up to 50 grams of particulates per hour. Compare that to a new 300 HP diesel truck, which produces about 18 grams of particulates per hour at full throttle. So even driving your stuff to the dump would result in a lot less pollutants!

Everyone knows the health risks of smoke—asthma, respiratory ailments, heart attacks, stroke and cancer. Plus there is the risk of fire itself, as noted by the guy who narrowly escaped serious injury from an exploding gas can while fueling up his leaf burning last month. It’s time to stop pretending that open burning in your backyard is any different than smoking in the car with your kids. We could all breathe easier and be much healthier if everyone just kicked the backyard burning habit.

Submitted by Ellen Mortfield