Recreational Fires Must Be Eliminated

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WELCOME TO HELL ON EARTH

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!

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Tuesday 09/29/2009 Air Pollution

7:30 PM: I don't expect any bonfires tonight. It is too cold. The temperature at Mahtomedi is 43 degrees says the Weatherbug widget on this blog. The official Twin Cities temperature at the airport is 50 degrees. There is a frost warning for the Twin Cities tonight. If there is wood smoke, it will be from fireplaces.

8:30 PM: No wood smoke.

10:55 PM: Very faint wood smoke at this time. Must be a fireplace.

Monday, September 28, 2009

Monday 09/28/2009 Air Pollution

7:30 PM: No wood smoke. A very faint trace of something is in the air. 53 degrees, windy, cloudy.

8:15 PM: Light wood smoke on the wind. I do not think there will be any bonfires with the cold and wind. Someone must be using a fireplace.

9:00 PM: Very faint trace of something in the air. I can't say it is wood smoke. It may be.

There was no more wood smoke for the rest of the night. The air was fresh the next morning.

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Sunday 09/27/2009 Air Pollution

After having smoky air much of yesterday morning, much of the afternoon, and all evening, it is wonderful to have a day with no wood smoke.

4:00 PM: No wood smoke. Cloudy, 70 degrees, very windy. Rain is in the forecast.

5:00 PM: No wood smoke. Power outage. The electricity went out around this time. The power went out, came back on a few seconds later, went out again, came back on a few seconds later, then went out for the next two hours. Still very windy at this time. The wind may have been responsible for the power going out.

5:30 PM: No wood smoke. Brief rain shower around this time.

6:00 PM: No wood smoke. No rain anymore and much less wind than before.

7:11 PM: No wood smoke at this time. The power is back on!

7:23 PM: Electricity went out again for a few seconds then came back on.

8:00 PM: No wood smoke. Windy again. 55 degrees.

9:10 PM: No wood smoke. Light rain at this time.

9:45 PM: No wood smoke. Drizzling at this time. The Weatherbug widget on this blog measures the temperature at North High School at 45 degrees right now.

If we have any wood smoke tonight, it will be from a fireplace. Polluters can't have recreational fires when it is raining. It's also a bit too cold for a bonfire.

There was not a trace of wood smoke this evening. Other than a little faint smoke from grilling (grilling does not bother me), we had fresh air all day and all night long. Fresh air is heavenly!

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Saturday 09/26/2009 Air Pollution

9:50 AM: Faint to light wood smoke varying with the breeze. DAMMIT! Some jackass probably has a fireplace going. 56 degrees. One person has to burn wood and everyone has to breathe smoky air. It's some stinky wood that's burning. It smells terrible. The high temperature is forecast to be 73 degrees today. I do not know how long the air has been smoky. It was not smoky when I woke at 8 AM. The air was fresh then. Now it stinks!

Why the hell do air polluters have more rights in this town than the rest of us?! Why does one person have the right to smoke up the air hundreds around him have to breathe? This city is a nightmare. A decade ago this city was a very nice place to live. It hasn't been for years. We can't even enjoy a cool Saturday morning without wood smoke.

10:45 AM: Faint wood smoke.

11:30 AM: Light wood smoke. It varies every few minutes.

12:00 PM: No detectable wood smoke now. It could be a shift in wind direction. I hope to be able to open the windows soon. I am not going to spend the day in a smoky house!

1:30 PM: Very faint trace of some unpleasant smokiness in the air. It's not enough to keep the windows closed. Most people probably could not smell it. I can.

4:00 PM: A very faint trace of some type of smoke has been in the air all afternoon and it continues.

5:30 PM: Faint to light wood smoke varying with the breeze. 74 degrees, sunny.

6:15 PM: Faint to light wood smoke continues.

7:00 PM: Very faint smokiness of some type continues. It doesn't smell like burning wood. But it could be.

8:15 PM: Light to moderate wood smoke. It's going to be another miserable smoky hell of an evening in North St. Paul.

9:00 PM: Moderate wood smoke at this time. It's very smoky outside. 66 degrees at this time.

I had to edit out some angry words. You readers must understand how frustrating and infuriating it is to live in a city with smoky air all the time.

10:00 PM: Moderate wood smoke continues.

11:00 PM: Light to moderate wood smoke. It has decreased in intensity.

11:30 PM: Faint to light wood smoke at this time.

11:45 PM: Very faint trace of some type of smokiness in the air. The air is mostly clear as of this time. This is the last check of the evening. Going to bed.

Friday 09/25/2009 Air Pollution

There was not a trace of wood smoke this evening.

4:45 PM: No wood smoke. 62 degrees and cloudy. It rained across the Twin Cities area this afternoon. Everything is wet. I don't expect many bonfires tonight.

5:45 PM: No wood smoke. Light rain drizzle at this time lasting about a half hour.

7:00 PM: No wood smoke.

9:00 PM: No wood smoke yet.

10:30 PM: No wood smoke. I can hear water dripping from the trees.

Midnight: No wood smoke. It was too wet for recreational burning this evening. Thankfully.

Friday, September 25, 2009

Small black bear killed in North St. Paul

I've never seen bears in North St. Paul, MN. There was one this morning. A small 120 lb. black bear was spotted at Richardson Elementary School. By 9 AM it meandered east to St. Peter's Catholic Church where it was wandering the school grounds and climbed a tree. DNR officers shot bean bags at it to get it out of the tree. After it started to leave the area the bear was shot and killed by police. KSTP-TV channel 5 has video of the cute little critter. Click the link below.

KSTP Channel 5 TV Video
Pioneer Press

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Thursday 09/24/2009 Air Pollution

The streak of fresh air has ended.

6:30 PM: No wood smoke at this time. 77 degrees and sunny. A beautiful evening.

9:25 PM: Light wood smoke and some other type of smoke at this time. It smells like wood and cardboard. It really stinks bad.

10:00 PM: Smoky chemical odor in the air. I suspect someone is disposing of waste and possibly chemicals. I think I know who. I went up by that house. It was smoky but I couldn't see any smoke coming from the property.

11:00 PM: Faint smoky chemical smell remains.

Wednesday 09/23/2009 Air Pollution

There was no wood smoke this evening. Not even a trace. We enjoyed fresh air all evening and all night long for the third night in a row. The windows were left open when we went to bed. I'm not sure what is responsible for this run of fresh air, but we are loving it! The temperature at 6 PM was 74 degrees. It was cloudy all evening with gray clouds. There was no rain in the weather forecast. The clouds looked more like gray clouds of winter than rain clouds.

I wish we had fresh air every night in North St. Paul. But we don't. Fresh, unpolluted air is very rare in this town. Fresh air is like an oasis in the desert around here.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Tuesday 09/22/2009 Air Pollution

5:00 PM: No wood smoke. Cloudy gray sky, 70 degrees. It looks like it may rain, but the weather forecasters say there will not be any.

8:30 PM: No wood smoke. I left the city for a while. On my way back I drove down a few roads and did not encounter wood smoke anywhere.

11:00 PM: Still no wood smoke. Only wonderful fresh air! Often there is a faint something in the air when I can't detect wood smoke, but there is nothing now. You take a deep breath and smell nothing.

Midnight: No wood smoke. We left the windows open when we went to bed. It's nice to be able to go to bed with the windows open and wake up to a house that isn't stuffy and stale. That does not happen often.

This was the second evening in a row without wood smoke. Has the wood smoke tapered off for the season or have the cloudy skies discouraged recreational bonfires? We should have fresh air every day of the week. Not in this town. When we get fresh air in the evening we savor it. You never know when someone will start burning. Recreational air polluters have more rights than we do.

Monday, September 21, 2009

Star Tribune's Fixit talks bonfires

A reader from Coon Rapids mentioned to me in an email last week that he or she wrote to Fixit at the Star Tribune about recreational fires. The Fixit columnist wrote about bonfires in an article posted to the site yesterday. The article doesn't discuss much other than getting smoky bonfires banned is not going to be easy.

Link to article

How can any elected leader support air pollution from recreational fires knowing there are many out there who do not want to breathe smoky air every day?

Monday 09/21/2009 Air Pollution

6:00 PM: No wood smoke. Cloudy, 74 degrees, looks like rain. Rain is in the forecast. It was supposed to be raining by evening rush but the rain never started.

9:00 PM: No wood smoke yet. We are loving that fresh air! 71 degrees at this time.

10:00 PM: No wood smoke.

10:30 PM: No wood smoke. Going to bed. Leaving a few windows open around the house.

11:00 PM: No wood smoke.

We had an evening with no wood smoke!

Sunday 09/20/2009 Air Pollution

3:22 PM: Faint to light odor of burning leaves. Somebody is burning yard waste to the east of us. They are not close by. The smoke would be stronger if they were closer. They could be several blocks away. It did not last for more than a few minutes after I noticed the odor coming in the windows. I did not notice any burning yard waste yesterday when I spent several hours outside enjoying what could be our final stretch of nice weather until next spring. Our air conditioner was on Saturday, it isn't today.

5:00 PM: Very faint trace of some type of smoke. I can't tell what it is. It doesn't smell like a grill and does not smell like wood or yard waste.

7:05 PM: Very faint trace of wood smoke coming out of the east. The wind is blowing west behind the houses and seems to be blowing north a block from here. I expected a smoky hell of an evening so I went out looking for the source of the wood smoke. I could not find it. There was a smokiness of some kind up around Shoshone and Indian Way on Chippewa. 76 degrees and partly cloudy at this time. A nice early fall evening.

8:30 PM: No wood smoke at all where we are.

9:30 PM: No wood smoke.

10:00 PM: No wood smoke.

10:30 PM: No wood smoke. This was the final check of the evening. People often start burning late in this town. I don't know if it was smoky after this time because the windows were closed.

This was a very light evening for wood smoke. It is usually much smokier than this on Sundays when the weather is nice. We officially enter fall tomorrow. Burning may be tapering off for the season, but it won't end completely until it is cold enough for fireplaces to be used. We endure smoke all year round in North St. Paul. The first half of last winter was very smoky. The second half was not. There was more wood smoke this summer than the second half of last winter. This could be the only town where the air is smokier in the summer than in the winter.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Saturday 09/19/2009 Air Pollution

Miraculously absent Friday, wood smoke made a return this evening.

6:05 PM: Faint to light wood smoke varying on the breeze. It did not last very long. 81 degrees and sunny at this time.

7:00 PM: No wood smoke.

8:00 PM: No wood smoke.

9:00 PM: No real wood smoke. A faint odor of something is in the air.

9:40 PM: Faint to light wood smoke coming out of the east. The breeze is blowing west behind the houses this evening.

10:10 PM: Light wood smoke varying in intensity with the breeze. The burner is not near, probably a few blocks away. This was the last check of the air quality for the evening. I did not wake until 6 AM at which time the air was clear.

Friday, September 18, 2009

Friday 09/18/2009 Air Pollution

5:00 PM: No wood smoke.

5:30 PM: No wood smoke. Partly cloudy and 84 degrees at this time as measured at North High School according to the Weatherbug widget on this blog. The TV news puts the temperature at 81 degrees. It is another beautiful late summer-early fall evening. It will surely be ruined by wood smoke.

With the weather forecast of no rain and high temperatures in the low 80s, I expect this weekend to be another miserable smoky hell just like every weekend has been all spring and summer long. You cannot escape wood smoke in North St. Paul, MN, not even in your own home. We are prisoners in our own homes because of the horrible polluted air in this town thanks to the four city council members.

With the weather so nice, I intend to spend some time outside this evening and tomorrow before the wood smoke starts. Our season for enjoying the outdoors will be over in a few weeks. Then it's snow and cold. We have two seasons in this town. Wood smoke season and winter. We could possibly have another season when fall starts. I call it leaf burning season. I am sure there will be some leaf burning Saturday and Sunday as people do yard work.

7:00 PM: No wood smoke.

8:00 PM: No wood smoke.

8:30 PM: No wood smoke. There is a very faint trace of something in the air. I can't say it is wood smoke. If it is, it is very diluted. 74 degrees at this time.

9:00 PM: No wood smoke. Very faint trace of something continues.

10:00 PM: No wood smoke yet. Where is it? Very faint trace of something continues.

11:00 PM: No wood smoke.

Midnight: No wood smoke.

I'll be darned. We made it an entire Friday evening with no wood smoke. It was a beautiful evening with no rain and a pleasant temperature perfect for recreational air pollution. But there was none. According to my records, the last Friday with no wood smoke and no rain to account for its absence was possibly May 1, 2009. I went to bed early that evening around 7 PM and did not check the air after that time. The government weather data shows the high temperature was 60 degrees that day with no precipitation. If there was any wood smoke that evening, it would most likely have been from a fireplace.

No wood smoke on a beautiful Friday evening. We have witnessed a miracle.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Thursday 09/17/2009 Air Pollution

12:30 AM: Very faint trace of wood smoke lingers in the air.

5:00 PM: No wood smoke. Sunny, 80 degrees.

7:00 PM: No wood smoke.

8:00 PM: No wood smoke.

9:00 PM: No wood smoke.

9:30 PM: No wood smoke. There is a very faint trace of something in the air. I can't say it is wood smoke.

10:00 PM: No wood smoke yet. Very faint trace of something continues. Going to bed.

11:30 PM: No wood smoke. I set my alarm to wake me up at this time for one last check of the air quality. I was surprised the air was clear.

We made it through the evening with no wood smoke. That does not happen often in this town. Recreational burning normally tapers off in the fall. But with the weather as nice and warm as it has been, it is still smoky more often than not in the evenings.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Wednesday 09/16/2009 Air Pollution

3:45 AM: Very faint trace of wood smoke remains in the air. The wood smoke started last night before 9 PM and is still detectable.

5:00 AM: Air is fresh!

10:00 PM: No wood smoke yet this evening. Last night was a smoky hell. We may get lucky tonight. I am tempted to leave the windows open when going to bed. It's a cool 68 degrees at this time. But you never know when someone will start burning late at night. It happens often. When your house fills with the stench of wood smoke, you can't do anything about it. You are stuck in a smoky house all night long. Sleeping isn't easy when you smell wood smoke with every breath. You might as well have someone blowing cigarette smoke in your face all night long. It's the same thing.

11:30 PM: Light wood smoke. DAMMIT! Between now and the last check someone started burning. I was hoping we could make it through the night without any wood smoke. Not in this town. Close the windows. Shortly after this time I stuck my head out the door again and heard my next door neighbor's air conditioner running. Who needs to run their air conditioners when it is 68 degrees outside with moderate humidity? People who live in North St. Paul do. The air is smoky almost every night. We can leave the windows closed and sleep in a stuffy house, run the air conditioner and bear the expense, or breathe smoky air as we try to sleep. This is not a good way to live.

When I woke up at 12:30 AM there was a very faint trace of wood smoke still in the air.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Email from a Coon Rapids resident

I got this email from a resident of Coon Rapids who has a problem with wood smoke in her neighborhood. As is my policy, I do not reveal personally identifiable information about people who email me unless they are public officials. The Coon Rapids resident writes:

Coon Rapids allows fires from 9 am to midnight. This summer has been the worst ever, by far, for stinky smoke from fires. Any time of the day, often all night, and most definitely every weekend. I believe lots of brush is being burned in fire pits. The only way the rules are enforced is by neighbors tattling on neighbors, and then hoping the fire department will follow up. This is an exceedingly poor way to safeguard public health.

Unless the Pollution Control Agency gets involved, I do not believe anything will change. Local politicians on city councils do not seem to care about the big picture when it comes to public health. This is very disturbing on very many levels. I can go to a restaurant and eat in a smoke-free environment, but there are evenings that I can't even taste my meal in my own house because of horrible smoke from neighborhood fires. I am totally disgusted by this situation. We live in the equivalent of a third-world country when it comes to air pollution from air smoke.

Earlier this summer I wrote to the Fixit columnist at the Star Tribune and asked if there were any municipalities in the Twin Cities area that do not allow recreational fires. I never got a response.

Your blog is getting noticed, and maybe eventually someone in the state with the power to stop recreational fires will get involved. Thank you for taking the time to document your smoke observations in your community.


Dear Coon Rapids resident:

I know exactly what you are going through. The wood smoke problem in North St. Paul keeps getting worse each year. Ten years ago, nobody burned wood recreationally. We could leave our windows open days or weeks at a time and never had to worry about wood smoke. Around 2003 or so things changed. Every once in a while there would be wood smoke in the evenings. Then it increased in frequency to the point where there is wood smoke in the air every evening with very few exceptions. People burned yard waste ten years ago. They burn it much more frequently now. Burning does nothing but encourage more burning. The problem will continue to get worse if nothing is done.

You are right about being able to enjoy a meal in a restaurant in a smoke-free environment but not being able to enjoy one in your own home. It makes little sense to me how any city leader can support the unnecessary recreational burning of wood and the air pollution that goes with it when such a small percentage of households burn, at least in my community. I estimate that 15% of the households within a quarter-mile of us burn wood. With about 190 houses in that radius, it is almost certain that one of them is going to burn any night, which is why the air is always smoky.

The people who burn wood frequently have issues. I do not understand the infatuation with burning wood. Most of the burners I have seen are men in their 40s and 50s. It is like they never matured, staying stuck in their boy scout days. Some of them burn almost every day and there is little we can do about it because our city council refuses to address it. One frequent burner nearby burns then leaves his fire smoldering all night long with his house windows closed. It is a nightmare. We can smell his smoke blocks away. The entire neighborhood reeks of his smoke and he sleeps in his house with his windows all closed up.

Do not expect any help at all from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. I made a complaint with them and it took them three weeks to tell me there was nothing they could do, that it was a nuisance issue that the city had to handle. One of our city council members, who lives not far from us, has a number of smoky burners around her. I've been by her house on a few smoky nights this summer and noticed the windows I could see from the street were all closed. Why would she close her windows on a cool summer evening unless the air is too smoky for her? If the air is too smoky for her, why doesn't she understand that we don't like the smoke either and do something about it? She has the power to do something about this wood smoke problem, we don't.

This blog was started to document the nightmare we endure living in North St. Paul, MN. It is one thing to say the air is smoky all the time. It is another to provide documentation that people can quantitatively use. All of our city council members know about this blog. I doubt they visit at all. I don't have many kind words for anyone who makes us breathe smoky air every day. I also want this blog to serve as a warning to anyone considering buying a home in this polluted hell of a city. North St. Paul is a very nice place to live except for the nightly wood smoke. The polluted air completely ruins the quality of life here.

Thank you for emailing me. I always appreciate emails in support. I've gotten emails from others across the metro area and people from around the country. I wish you the best in your struggle against wood smoke pollution. You seem to be aware that it is going to be an uphill battle against the uncaring people who govern our towns.

I'm considering offering free firewood to those living around our city council members next year. It won't be cheap, but if we have to breathe smoky air every day, they should, too.

Tuesday 09/15/2009 Air Pollution

4:22 PM: Passed through a huge cloud of smoke from burning yard waste at the intersection of Helen & Navajo. Someone over there likes to burn yard waste on Tuesdays regularly. It smelled like burning leaves, not grass as it usually does. Next Tuesday I'll be sure to be up there around this time to see if I can identify the burner and call the police on them. 83 degrees and sunny at this time.

7:00 PM: No wood smoke yet. 82 degrees, getting cloudy. There is a rain cloud to the northeast at this time. People can't burn wood when it rains. I hope it does.

7:30 PM: No wood smoke. A few drops of rain fell, not enough to deter recreational polluters.

9:00 PM: Moderate wood smoke at this time. It's very smoky outside. The air reeks of wood smoke. You can't smell anything else. I wouldn't expect this level of smokiness until the weekend. Nobody around us is burning. It could be a burner a block or two away. How many hundreds of people are breathing smoky air because of that one burner? Why does our city council give him more rights than us?

10:15 PM: Light to moderate wood smoke at this time. It has dropped in intensity a little.

11:00 PM: Light to moderate wood smoke continues.

I noticed a very faint trace of wood smoke in the air when I woke up the first time at 3:45 AM. Seven hours of smoky air on a Tuesday night? This is common in North St. Paul. This is how our city council forces us to live.

Monday 09/14/2009 Air Pollution

9:00 PM: No wood smoke yet. Went to bed at this time. Around 12:45 AM I woke and detected a very faint odor of some kind in the air. It was not strong enough to determine if it was wood smoke. It was 80 degrees and mostly cloudy at 4:30 PM. A very nice evening.

As I went to bed earlier than usual and did not notice any smoke up until that time, this will count as a rare evening without wood smoke. There could have been wood smoke when I was not awake to notice it. There usually is smoke in the air every evening.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Sunday 09/13/2009 Air Pollution

3:15 AM: Faint to light wood smoke. I woke up at this time to find the air still smoky. Isn't that nice the way our city council makes us breathe smoky air all night long?

5:00 AM: Air is clear of wood smoke.

There was no wood smoke this evening. It was surprising. It was 82 degrees at 5 PM, a beautiful late summer-early fall evening. There was some wood smoke in the morning before 10 AM. It did not last more than a few minutes. In North St. Paul, MN, we live at the whim of recreational air polluters. Any one of the hundreds of homes around us can burn any evening and our air can be smoky. It is legal. In this town, the small percentage of recreational burners have more rights than those of us who never burn.

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Saturday 09/12/2009 Air Pollution

It was another smoky hell of an evening. In other words, it was a typical day in North Saint Paul, Minnesota.

2:00 AM: Very faint trace of wood smoke. I can hear a loud party off in the distance. It rained earlier around 11 PM for a few minutes. That probably ended most recreational fires, but not all of them.

3:00 AM: Loud party continues a couple blocks away. Can't smell any wood smoke.

5:00 AM: Air is nice and fresh!

6:10 PM: Light to moderate wood smoke. The same guy who burns almost every day is burning again. You can smell his smoke blocks away from his yard. Cloudy, 80 degrees, a little humid. It looks like rain but it did not rain this evening. Too bad for everyone.

7:00 PM: Faint wood smoke.

8:00 PM: Very faint wood smoke at this time. 75 degrees.

9:00 PM: No detectable wood smoke at this time. A faint something is in the air. I can't say it is wood smoke.

10:00 PM: Moderate wood smoke. Very smoky outside. Horrible polluted air every day in this town thanks to the city council.

10:25 PM: Light to moderate wood smoke. It has reduced somewhat in intensity. I fell asleep shortly after this time.

The air was still smoky at 3 AM. Welcome to hell!

Friday 09/11/2009 Air Pollution

7:15 PM: No wood smoke yet. Cloudy, 80 degrees, looks like rain. Rain is in the forecast for tonight. It was forecast for last night, too, but never happened.

11:00 PM: Moderate wood smoke. Very smoky outside. Ick! I went to bed early again this evening. I woke up around 11 PM just as the rain started. I checked the air as the rain was starting and it was very smoky outside. It had to be smoky before 11 PM.

11:30 PM: No wood smoke. The rain did not last more than a few minutes. No real wood smoke at this time.

I woke up again around 2 AM to discover a very faint trace of wood smoke in the air. I could hear a loud party off in the distance. At 3 AM the loud party was still going on.

Thursday 09/10/2009 Air Pollution

3:30 PM: No wood smoke at this time. Sunny, 82 degrees, a little humid. Rain is in the forecast. It was supposed to be raining by now.

8:00 PM: Faint grass smoke. Someone is burning grass. It doesn't smell like there is any wood in it. Grass burners usually burn wood then throw their grass clippings on top of it to hide what they are doing. Going to bed.

10:30 PM: No wood smoke.

I went to bed early this evening so I did not monitor the air quality as much as I normally do. While there was grass smoke, I cannot say there was any wood smoke in it. This will count as an evening with no wood smoke. We were not free of air pollution. My main concern is the daily wood smoke. Burning grass is not pleasant, but it is much less of a nuisance than wood smoke is. Grass burns up quickly. Logs can smolder for hours. The expected rain did not come this evening.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Wednesday 09/09/2009 Air Pollution

5:15 PM: No wood smoke. Cloudy, 79 degrees, weather forecasts show a possibility for rain. It looks like it could rain.

6:35 PM: No wood smoke. I noticed a few tiny drops of rain on the trash container earlier. It isn't enough to stop anyone from burning wood this evening.

8:00 PM: No wood smoke yet.

9:30 PM: No wood smoke. The sky is clear at this time.

11:40 PM: No wood smoke yet. Can we make it another 20 minutes without wood smoke? Could this be the first day in weeks without polluted air? Will anybody start burning after midnight? The windows are open. I'll notice if someone starts late night burning, which is not that uncommon. 70 degrees at this time. Nice. Fresh air is so rare in this town.

Midnight: No wood smoke, not even a trace of anything in the air. Fresh air! We made it!

This is the first evening without wood smoke in the past 20 days. The last evening without wood smoke was August 20th. It rained heavily after 6 PM with rain on and off all evening. This is how the North St. Paul city council tortures us. They force us to breathe smoky, polluted air every day against our will.

Officer Richard Crittenden was killed with his own gun

More information has been released about the murder of North St. Paul, Minnesota, Police Officer Richard Crittenden on Monday morning. Tragically, he was killed by Devon Dockery with his own gun after being ambushed responding to an order for protection call at the apartment of Dockery's wife Stacy Terry. From Fox Twin Cities:

From The Star Tribune:

North St. Paul Police Officer shot and killed today
Officer Richard Crittenden reportedly killed with his own gun

Officer Richard Crittenden reportedly killed with his own gun

The St. Paul Pioneer Press (click link for article) is reporting that police officer Richard Crittenden, killed Labor Day (Sept. 7, 2009) while responding to a domestic disturbance and violation of an order for protection at the Aspen Village apartments near 7th Ave. E. and McKnight Rd. N., was murdered with his own gun while struggling with his killer.

Officer Rick died a hero. He put the safety of others ahead of his own and paid the ultimate price. The funeral service for Officer Crittenden will be held at 11 AM this Friday, Sept. 11, 2009, at Aldrich Arena in Maplewood. Visitation will be held this Thursday the 10th at Sandberg Funeral Home in downtown North Saint Paul from 4 - 8 PM. Click on the links for maps of the visitation and funeral services. A memorial fund has been set up for the slain officer. Donations can be made at any Anchor Bank or mailed to Anchor Bank, 2700 Seventh Ave. E., North St. Paul, MN 55109.

The killer, Devon Dockery, pictured at left, had a long criminal history and was released from jail in August, according to news reports. Dockery served time in prison in 2003 on a charge of a felon in possession of a firearm. Dockery was reportedly killed by a Maplewood police officer who provided backup to Crittenden. The Maplewood officer sustained a gunshot wound to her arm or wrist. Dockery's brother, Anthony Lavelle Edwards (click link for prison inmate information), is currently serving a 35-year prison sentence for murdering his girlfriend. Dockery has four children with his former girlfriend, Carrie Wieland.

Dockery should have never been allowed back on the streets with his history of domestic violence and violating restraining orders. He was known to be a danger to others. The end result of the revolving door that is our justice system is a dead cop.

Tuesday 09/08/2009 Air Pollution

The air was smoky again this evening. If it isn't raining, the air is smoky every evening with very few exceptions. City council members Jan Walczak, Bob Bruton, Terry Furlong, and Dave Zick are the reason we endure this horrible air pollution. Read this post for a tabulation of wood smoke pollution by month. The city council forces us to breathe polluted air every day. All four of them have refused to do anything about this horrible wood smoke pollution problem plaguing our city making life here a living hell. Why would elected leaders force the people they represent to breathe smoky air every day? Are they sadists intent on inflicting punishment on us?

Do you want to breathe smoky air when you are in bed at night? You better if you want to be happy in North St. Paul, MN.

12:35 AM: No wood smoke. Woke up. Fresh air!

2:30 AM: Fresh air.

5:00 AM: Fresh air continues.

7:10 PM: Faint trace of something in the air. I can't say it is wood smoke. I don't know what it is. Sunny, 78 degrees at this time. A beautiful late summer evening.

8:00 PM: Faint trace of something remains in the air.

9:00 PM: Light to moderate wood smoke. The air is smoky once again. None of our immediate neighbors appears to be burning. The burner could be blocks away with the wood smoke coming in on the breeze. Wood smoke can easily travel a half-mile or more if conditions are right. If the air isn't smoky, it is a miracle in this town. Going to sleep.

11:00 PM: No wood smoke that I can detect. Light sulfur odor in the air. My nose was stuffy when I woke up. I stuck my head out the back door and took several deep breaths of the air. I could not smell wood smoke but could definitely smell a sulfur odor coming from the industrial section of town.

Monday, September 7, 2009

Monday 09/07/2009 Air Pollution

It is a sad day in North St. Paul, MN. One of our police officers, Richard Crittenden, was shot and killed in the line of duty this morning.

12:30 AM: Faint trace of wood smoke continues.

2:15 AM: Faint wood smoke.

6:00 AM: Air is fresh where we live. I passed by Indian Way on Chippewa about this time and noticed a smoky, burnt wood odor coming from the intersection. The smell was strongest next to the house on the northwest corner of Indian Way & Chippewa. They may have had another smoky bonfire last night. They had a smoky fire two weeks ago. Last year, I passed by that house in the evening and saw a guy playing fetch with his dog in the backyard while a bonfire roared. Who needs to have a bonfire to play fetch with his dog? Also around this time I noticed faint wood smoke on Helen just north of Beam.

5:53 PM: Faint wood smoke. On a day of great sadness for our city, the wood smoke is not taking a break. Faint wood smoke at this time. I went out to see if it was the usual suspect burning. It was. He has burned 7 out of the last 9 evenings. You can smell his wood smoke blocks away. 80 degrees, sunny, a little humid, the weather is pleasant.

6:15 PM: Very faint wood smoke in the air.

7:00 PM: No real wood smoke. There is something in the air. I can't say it is wood smoke.

8:20 PM: No wood smoke. Something continues to be in the air.

9:30 PM: No wood smoke. Air is as close to fresh as we will get. 71 degrees and a little muggy at this time.

There was no more wood smoke this evening. Overall, a light day for wood smoke. Other than the smoke from the frequent burner who burns almost every day, there was nothing. Wood smoke should taper off a little as school has resumed. But we've got to deal with burning leaves soon.

North St. Paul Police Officer shot and killed today

I am in stunned disbelief. A North St. Paul police officer was killed in the line of duty this morning answering a domestic call. Officer Richard Crittenden, 57, was killed responding to a report of a violation of an order for protection at the Aspen Village apartments near 7th St. E. and McKnight Ave. N. around 8:30 AM. A Maplewood police officer providing backup on the call suffered a non-life threatening gunshot to the wrist. This is the first police officer killed in the line of duty in our city.

Our prayers go out to the family, friends, fellow officers, and all residents of the city of North St. Paul. This is a huge loss for our city which I fear will completely shatter the small town feel many of us enjoy living here. The news is reporting that Officer Crittenden was a father and grandfather.

Links to articles about the slain police officer:

Star Tribune
Star Tribune - The murderer's arrest history including a 5-year prison sentence for unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Star Tribune - Contains a quote by North St. Paul Police Chief Tom Lauth.
Pioneer Press
KSTP-TV
KSTP-TV - Interview with killer's wife.

The KSTP article has video with an interview of the killer's wife. She displays no emotion at all about what her husband did.

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Sunday 09/06/2009 Air Pollution

1:00 AM: Faint wood smoke continues.

3:00 AM: Faint trace of something in the air. Air is mostly clear.

6:30 AM: Air is fresh!

5:40 PM: Faint to light wood smoke. Went out and checked the usual suspect. It was him. He's burned wood six out of the last eight evenings. I get a real good vantage point on the street north of his property. I can't see through the privacy fence, but I can see the smoke rising next to the fence where he burns. He smokes up the area at least a quarter-mile away. He also leaves his wood smoldering for hours. He smokes up the air from 3 - 10 hours a night. This city allows it! The city council condones this air pollution. He isn't the only recreational wood burner in that area. He isn't the only grass burner in that area. But he is the worst. If I smell burning grass at 1 AM, all I have to do is drive by his house and I know it's him doing it. He did that a few times last year and at least once this year. His fires are not bonfires. The frequent puffs of smoke from his property are not consistent with bonfires. They are consistent with disposal of waste. Bonfires don't belch smoke every minute or two. His fires are constantly refueled for a period then left to burn themselves out over several hours.

6:35 PM: Faint trace of wood smoke in the air. About 75 degrees at this time, sunny.

7:00 PM: Faint trace of wood smoke continues.

8:45 PM: Faint to light wood smoke. 71 degrees at this time. A very nice evening.

9:15 PM: Light to moderate wood smoke. It's gotten smokier in the past half-hour.

10:00 PM: Moderate to strong wood smoke. Very smoky outside! This air pollution is inhumane! Pray for morning to come quickly.

10:30 PM: Moderate to strong wood smoke continues. I stepped outside for a minute to look around. Nobody around us is burning. My clothes have a faint odor of wood smoke from being outside. The air in North St. Paul, MN, is poison!

11:20 PM: Moderate wood smoke. The smoke is decreasing in intensity. Thankfully.

11:55 PM: Light to moderate wood smoke. Smoke is continuing to decrease in intensity.

At 2:15 AM faint wood smoke could still be smelled in the air.

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Saturday 09/05/2009 Air Pollution

Can this wood smoke nightmare get any worse? I don't think so. You can't get any worse than wood smoke every day.

2:30 AM: Light wood smoke and smoldering odor remains in the air. The air has been smoky for 8 hours now. No end is in sight.

4:00 AM: Faint smoky smoldering odor lingers. You don't want to breathe this stinky air in your bedroom while you are trying to sleep, believe me. Hopefully, the air will be clear enough in an hour or two to open the windows.

6:00 AM: Faint trace of smoldering wood smoke odor remains. At this time I left. It was faintly smoky up at Beam & Helen around this time. At about 6:30 AM I noticed faint to light wood smoke near Lake Blvd & Swan. Somebody over there likes to smoke up the air. I'm not sure who it is. This isn't the first time it's been smoky over there in the morning.

8:00 AM: Air is clear enough to open the windows. Finally! We can get some cool air into the house after having the windows closed for 13-1/2 hours.

6:56 PM: Noticed faint wood smoke in the air. I did not check before this. Wood smoke this early makes me suspect a frequent burner close to city council member Jan Walczak's house. You can smell his burning blocks away. I went out and confirmed my suspicions. The homeowner is burning again. He burns almost every day. He burned five out of the past seven days. He burned Aug 30th, Sept. 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 5th from what I saw. He may have burned more than that. He is also a frequent yard waste burner. What makes him most interesting is his line of work generates a lot of combustible waste I suspect he is burning at his home. His burning pattern is not typical of recreation fires. You see short bursts of smoke coming from his property followed by a lull of a couple of minutes followed by another burst of smoke. This can go on for an hour or more from what I've witnessed. This is not consistent with recreational bonfires. This is more what you would expect from burning waste. As of 8 PM he was still burning strong.

But when you've got the four city council members supporting daily burning, what can you do? Our city council sucks. I wish we could get them to resign and put some people on the council who actually care about the community. People who care about others wouldn't force them to breathe smoky air every day.

7:50 PM: Faint wood smoke at this time.

8:40 PM: Moderate wood smoke. Very smoky outside. Horrible smoky air.

9:43 PM: Light wood smoke at this time.

I checked the visitor log today. More people researching real estate in North St. Paul, MN, are finding this blog. Anyone considering buying a house in this city should know what a nightmare it is. This wood smoke problem is city-wide. It is not confined to my area. There have been a few times this summer when I found wood smoke elsewhere when there was no wood smoke where we live. If a city allows burning all seven days a week, you will always find someone somewhere burning and smoking up the air.

11:00 PM: Light to moderate wood smoke continues.

Midnight: Light wood smoke at this time.

Friday 09/04/2009 Air Pollution

It's another smoky hell of a day in North St. Paul, MN. This city is a nightmare thanks to our four city council members. A smoky, polluted hell of a nightmare from which you never wake. We got less than 12 hours of fresh air today. With the Labor Day holiday weekend, it is going to be a smoky hell all over the city.

12:45 AM: Faint to light wood smoke.

2:05 AM: No real wood smoke. A faint chemical smell is in the air. If there is any wood smoke, the chemical smell overpowers it.

5:00 AM: Light to moderate wood smoke. The air has been smoky now for the most of 8 hours. At 5 AM the air is still smoky. The air reeks of smoky, smoldering wood.

6:00 AM: Faint wood smoke smoldering odor remains in the air.

7:00 AM: Faint wood smoke continues.

6:30 PM: Light wood smoke at this time. Our area didn't even get 12 hours of fresh air today. I don't know how long the smoky air lasted this morning.

8:20 PM: Light to moderate wood smoke. It's smoky out there. It has been smoky since before 6:30 PM. We are at almost 2 hours of wood smoke already tonight and it hasn't even gotten started yet.

9:00 PM: Moderate wood smoke. Very smoky outside.

10:30 PM: Moderate to strong wood smoke. It's getting smokier.

11:15 PM: Strong wood smoke. It's smoky as hell outside. Our city council members make us breathe toxic poison!

Midnight: Strong wood smoke continues. The wood smoke will likely continue all night long and well into the morning hours.

This is how we live in North St. Paul. If you move to this city, this is how you will live, too.

You could still smell a faint trace of wood smoke at 6 AM. All night long it was smoky. This is not unusual for North St. Paul.

Friday, September 4, 2009

Thursday 09/03/2009 Air Pollution

Another smoky evening.

7:00 PM: No wood smoke. 73 degrees, sunny, gorgeous!

7:30 PM: No wood smoke. I dozed off a few minutes later.

9:10 PM: Faint wood smoke for a few seconds. I woke up a few minutes prior.

9:35 PM: Light wood and grass smoke. Not too strong. I am pretty sure I know who is doing it. I didn't want to get dressed and go out to verify. It fits the pattern. First the wood starts, then a short while later the grass burning starts, followed by more wood.

10:00 PM: Light wood smoke.

10:25 PM: Light to moderate wood smoke. It has gotten smokier.

11:05 PM: No wood smoke that I can tell. Faint chemical odor. If there is any wood smoke, it is overpowered by the chemical smell.

11:45 PM: Moderate to strong wood smoke. Very smoky outside. The burner is within a couple blocks for the smoke to be that strong.

The air was smoky with the stench of smoldering wood when I got up around 5 AM.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Wednesday 09/02/2009 Air Pollution

6:00 PM: No wood smoke. 73 degrees, sunny, not a cloud in the sky. A gorgeous evening.

7:00 PM: No wood smoke.

8:20 PM: Faint wood smoke. I dozed off and woke up to find faint wood smoke outside. We couldn't make it through the evening without wood smoke, could we? Went to bed.

10:15 PM: Faint wood smoke. Woke up again.

11:50 PM: No detectable wood smoke in the air at this time.

I couldn't stay awake so I don't know how strong the wood smoke got this evening between 8 and 10 PM. It probably didn't get very strong. At midnight I opened a few windows before heading back to bed.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Tuesday 09/01/2009 Air Pollution

1:15 AM: Very faint trace of wood smoke remains in the air.

2:00 AM: Very faint trace of wood smoke continues.

6:30 AM: No wood smoke in the air! There is a faint sulfur odor coming from the industrial section of town.

6:10 PM: Faint wood smoke on the breeze. The breeze is very slight flowing to the west. I lit a match outside and watched the smoke drift west. 71 degrees, sunny, another beautiful evening ruined by wood smoke.

6:40 PM: Faint grass smoke. Somebody is burning grass.

6:45 PM: I went out and tracked down the grass burner. They are frequent grass burners. They burn wood 4 - 7 times a week, too. They burn wood then burn grass as if they think we can't smell the burning grass. We can. I will be reporting them to the city.

7:05 PM: Light wood smoke on the breeze.

8:30 PM: Very faint wood smoke coming out of the east.

I finished a careful read of the city's recreational burning ordinances. The definition of a recreational fire under Chapter 98: NUISANCES is:

RECREATIONAL FIRE. A fire set with approved starter fuel no more than three feet in height, contained within the border of a “recreational fire site” using dry, clean wood; producing little detectable smoke, odor or soot beyond the property line; conducted with an adult tending the fire at all times; for recreational, ceremonial, food preparation for social purposes; extinguished completely before quitting the occasion; and respecting weather conditions, neighbors, burning bans, and air quality so that nuisance, health or safety hazards will not be created. No more than one recreational fire is allowed on any property at one time.

If a nuisance is created by wood smoke crossing property lines, as it almost always is, it no longer falls under the definition of a recreational fire. When I smell wood smoke on our property, which is every single night, and if I can find the source, I will be calling the police to make a nuisance complaint. Four nuisance calls to an address within a 30-day period can result in fines for the property owner, I think.

If the city cares to enforce this, and I hope they do, it could help shut down some of the frequent burners, those who burn several times a week. There are several of those among the hundreds of homes around us. It will not eliminate the wood smoke pollution problem in this city since some burners only burn once a week or a few times a summer, but anything to make this city more livable will help. Breathing smoky air 25 evenings in a month is not enjoyable. It's a living hell.

I don't like the idea of wasting the resources of trained police officers to make wood smoke nuisance complaints. But since city council members Jan Walczak, Bob Bruton, Terry Furlong, and Dave Zick have refused to do anything about this nightly wood smoke problem, we really don't have much choice.

9:10 PM: Very faint wood smoke continues. 64 degrees at this time. It will likely continue for hours. Most of the burners are to the west of us. There are some to the east, too. Actually, whichever direction the wind blows it brings wood smoke to us. Recreational burning has exploded the past few years thanks to this city's generous ordinance allowing burning seven days a week and there is no end in sight. As long as Walczak, Bruton, Furlong, and Zick are on the city council, smoky air is here to stay.

10:00 PM: No wood smoke. Fresh air! Did the burning stop or did the wind shift direction? How long will it last? Going to bed now.

Midnight: No wood smoke. Woke up around this time. The air was clear.