7:00 PM: Faint to light wood smoke where I am.
8:00 PM: Faint wood smoke. You can't smell much of it, but you notice it when it gets in your house.
8:30 - 9:30 PM: I went looking for jackasses recreationally polluting the air. I located only two bonfires but found pockets of wood smoke in a few areas. Nobody around me was burning wood this evening -- a rarity. The wood smoke we smelled was drifting in on the breeze.
Bonfires I located
1) Lake Blvd. & Poplar Ave.: I saw a bonfire in the backyard of the first or second house in from the corner on the north side of the street. I could not determine which house it was because the fire was very near the property line. City Council member Bob Bruton lives only a few doors up from that bonfire. If he's home tonight, I hope he has his windows open. Breathe deeply, Mr. Bruton. We want those wood smoke carcinogens to go deep into your lungs. I should offer to buy those recreational polluters some free firewood. If we have to breathe smoky air every day, Bruton should, too.
The household having the bonfire also appeared to be shooting off fireworks of questionable legality. I am no pyrotechnician, but they looked like roman candles. If Bruton was any kind of law and order man, he would call the police on those people.
2) 19th Ave. & Reardon Place: I saw a small bonfire at the second house west from the corner of Reardon on 19th., a white house. It was smoky over there. It was smoky over there last night, too. They could possibly have been burning last night, too.
Smoky areas
3 & 4) Light wood smoke at Helen St. & Helen Ct. and also on the other side of the block on Lake Blvd. at the same spot. I could not locate the source of this wood smoke. City Council member Jan Walczak lives right at that spot. I hope she had her windows open. Breathe deep, Ms. Walczak. Wood smoke contains carcinogens, soot, ash, and other toxic chemicals. The deeper those carcinogens can get into your lungs, the more damage they can do. Since you support recreational burning and force us to breathe smoky air every day, you deserve any ill health effects wood smoke can produce.
5) Very smoky on 18th Ave. between Charles and Margaret Streets. The smoke was heaviest closer to Margaret. I couldn't find the burner. Last year, Charles & 18th was sickeningly smoky every night. It isn't nearly as bad this year.
6) Helen St. & 15th Ave.: Small pocket of strong wood smoke here. Smoke was concentrated a few houses east of the intersection.
7) Tower Park: There must be a frequent burner around here. I couldn't find the source of the burning. The wood smoke seemed heaviest on 14th at E. 2nd St N.
10:30 PM: No wood smoke where I am. It's been a pretty weak day for wood smoke around our home this evening. Let's hope it stays that way.
There was no more wood smoke this evening where I live.
