7:30 PM: Enjoying a pleasant spring evening on the deck (65 degrees and sunny!), I was not surprised when smoky air encroached. This is North St. Paul, the "smokiest city in the world". A night without wood smoke would be unnatural in this formerly pleasant town. After sitting in smoky air for a while, I got pissed off, naturally. Who wants to breathe smoky air? Who wants to sit outside and breathe wood smoke with every breathe he takes? Who enjoys that?
So I went smoke detecting. I found the guy with the recreational fire. It took a while because there was little wind to help me locate the source. The smoke hung in the air throughout the entire neighborhood. It reeked! I saw a guy in a wheelchair sitting next to a fire at xxxx First St. N. This guy has fires all the time. I saw him having fires several times last year. Why can't he find something better to do than sit in front of burning wood? Does this guy need to pollute the air for recreational "fun" several times a week? Is polluting the air we all must share fun? Is making the air unbreathable for those with allergies and lung problems good recreation?
I regularly point out the smoky areas of the northern half of the city. Those areas are frequently smoky. By frequently, I mean almost every night. Last summer, the area of 18th & Charles was stomach-turningly smoky every night. It hasn't been smoky over there yet this year. But it is very early in the burning season. It will be much smokier in June, July, and August than it is in April.
It is only mid-April and we've had to contend with smoky air for 7 out of the last 7 days where I am. That's 100% of the days, dear commenter. If we smell wood and grass smoke every day, so do our neighbors and those all around us. I know they smell it, because I've asked them in the past.
Other smoky areas
Since I was out, I decided to check out other areas in North St. Paul. The area of Chippewa & Navajo was smoky. I didn't see any recreational fires. Maybe someone was using a fireplace when it was 65 degrees and nice outside.
The area of Polar & Lake Blvd. was smoky, too. It was smoky two nights ago. I did not see any smoke or fires in this area. Maybe someone here had a fireplace going on a warm spring evening as well.
Maplewood very smoky
I feel sorry for the people living in northern Maplewood. It was sickeningly smoky in the area of Standridge & McKnight. Definitely rritating to the sinuses. It was also very smoky in the area of Lydia & Bellaire/Helen. If you left your windows open in these areas, your entire house would reek of wood smoke. You'd smell smoke every time you inhale. I thought some leaders on your city council were going to so something about the smoke pollution in your city. Did they abandon you lovers of fresh air? Sometimes you've got to keep complaining to these local politicians to enable them to find their back bones.
Recreational Fires Must Be Eliminated
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The air is smoky from burning wood in North St. Paul, MN, almost every evening. It is a nightmare. What used to be a nice place to live has become a living hell.
WARNING: If you buy a house in North St. Paul, MN, you will regret it! It may be the biggest, most expensive mistake you ever make. You will breathe smoky air almost every day of your life in this town. This is not an exaggeration. The wood smoke in this town gets heavy and gets heavy often. When you want to get out of this dump of a town, how many people do you think are going to want to buy a house in a city where heavy air pollution every night is normal and clean air is rare? This blog gets thousands of visitors every year. The word is out: North St. Paul is a horrible place to live!
Fresh air is very rare around here. If you are considering moving to North St. Paul or buying a home here, I strongly recommend that you do not do it no matter how good of a price you get. The only way you will be happy in this town is if you love breathing smoky air almost every day. North St. Paul, MN, is a horrible place to live because of the smoky air!
Burning wood, grass, leaves, paper, cardboard, and sometimes plastic, construction materials, and chemicals, if it is combustible it gets burned in North St. Paul and you are going to breathe it.
The air was smoky 25 out of 31 evenings in July 2009. We had 37 hours of continuous wood smoke in the air Aug. 29th - 31st. There was wood smoke in the air 19 consecutive evenings from Aug. 21st to Sept. 8th. It rained heavily on Aug. 20th, providing the only relief we got from wood smoke for almost three weeks.
Is this a good way to live? No. It is a horrible way to live. Take it from someone who knows. Breathing smoky, polluted air every day is misery.
Every day in this city several people are having recreational fires. Every evening the air is filled with the stench of burning wood. I am one person sick and tired of breathing smoky air every day. Is it too much to ask to be able to breathe fresh air in your own home?
Who is responsible for this wood smoke nightmare? The four city council members are responsible. Council members Jan Walczak, Bob Bruton, Terry Furlong, and Dave Zick have refused to do anything about this wood smoke problem. They don't care if you have a child with asthma. They don't care if you have to live like a shut-in because the air is so polluted. They don't care if your sinuses burn because the wood smoke is so heavy.
Our four Council members have defended the rights of a small percentage of households to burn wood daily over the rights of all the rest of us to breathe.
You have no right to breathe under Walczak, Bruton, Furlong, and Zick. Burners have the right to burn wood 49 hours a week recreationally. The rest of us have no rights at all.
If you are considering purchasing real estate in the city of North Saint Paul, Minnesota (55109), factor this blog carefully into your decision. Buying a home in this city means that your kids will breathe smoky air while playing in the yard almost every day. Your baby will breathe smoky air in her crib should you leave the windows open around your house. If you leave your windows open you will wake up in the middle of the night choking on smoky air.
Perhaps worst of all, your utility rates will be high because you will have to run the air conditioner instead of leaving the windows open on a cool summer evening. You have no other choice because almost every night the air is too smoky to breathe in this city. Consider this blog your warning.
North St. Paul, Minnesota, is a wonderful community other than the wood smoke. If we could restore fresh air like we used to enjoy, life would be happy again. But that is not going to happen any time soon.
Tell others about this blog!
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The air is smoky from burning wood in North St. Paul, MN, almost every evening. It is a nightmare. What used to be a nice place to live has become a living hell.
WARNING: If you buy a house in North St. Paul, MN, you will regret it! It may be the biggest, most expensive mistake you ever make. You will breathe smoky air almost every day of your life in this town. This is not an exaggeration. The wood smoke in this town gets heavy and gets heavy often. When you want to get out of this dump of a town, how many people do you think are going to want to buy a house in a city where heavy air pollution every night is normal and clean air is rare? This blog gets thousands of visitors every year. The word is out: North St. Paul is a horrible place to live!
Fresh air is very rare around here. If you are considering moving to North St. Paul or buying a home here, I strongly recommend that you do not do it no matter how good of a price you get. The only way you will be happy in this town is if you love breathing smoky air almost every day. North St. Paul, MN, is a horrible place to live because of the smoky air!
Burning wood, grass, leaves, paper, cardboard, and sometimes plastic, construction materials, and chemicals, if it is combustible it gets burned in North St. Paul and you are going to breathe it.
The air was smoky 25 out of 31 evenings in July 2009. We had 37 hours of continuous wood smoke in the air Aug. 29th - 31st. There was wood smoke in the air 19 consecutive evenings from Aug. 21st to Sept. 8th. It rained heavily on Aug. 20th, providing the only relief we got from wood smoke for almost three weeks.
Is this a good way to live? No. It is a horrible way to live. Take it from someone who knows. Breathing smoky, polluted air every day is misery.
Every day in this city several people are having recreational fires. Every evening the air is filled with the stench of burning wood. I am one person sick and tired of breathing smoky air every day. Is it too much to ask to be able to breathe fresh air in your own home?
Who is responsible for this wood smoke nightmare? The four city council members are responsible. Council members Jan Walczak, Bob Bruton, Terry Furlong, and Dave Zick have refused to do anything about this wood smoke problem. They don't care if you have a child with asthma. They don't care if you have to live like a shut-in because the air is so polluted. They don't care if your sinuses burn because the wood smoke is so heavy.
Our four Council members have defended the rights of a small percentage of households to burn wood daily over the rights of all the rest of us to breathe.
You have no right to breathe under Walczak, Bruton, Furlong, and Zick. Burners have the right to burn wood 49 hours a week recreationally. The rest of us have no rights at all.
If you are considering purchasing real estate in the city of North Saint Paul, Minnesota (55109), factor this blog carefully into your decision. Buying a home in this city means that your kids will breathe smoky air while playing in the yard almost every day. Your baby will breathe smoky air in her crib should you leave the windows open around your house. If you leave your windows open you will wake up in the middle of the night choking on smoky air.
Perhaps worst of all, your utility rates will be high because you will have to run the air conditioner instead of leaving the windows open on a cool summer evening. You have no other choice because almost every night the air is too smoky to breathe in this city. Consider this blog your warning.
North St. Paul, Minnesota, is a wonderful community other than the wood smoke. If we could restore fresh air like we used to enjoy, life would be happy again. But that is not going to happen any time soon.
Tell others about this blog!
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Your blog's been great -- but posting people's personal info crosses the line. There's a big difference between having an issue-oriented protest blog and being a jerk.
ReplyDeleteThe only way I can allow others to verify my claims is to point out the frequent burners so they can see for themselves. Therefore, I will continue publishing addresses of burners.
ReplyDeleteAs for phone numbers, anybody can look up a phone number using a reverse directory. If it is a published phone number, it is public information.
I am not doing this to be a "jerk". I am doing this to draw attention to this problem. If I have to point out the frequent burners, I will do so. I want everyone to know who is smoking up the air they have to breathe.