Recreational Fires Must Be Eliminated

Do you support clean air? Click the Facebook Like button if you have a Facebook account.

Share
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!

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Friday 10/29/2010 Air Pollution

We has some wood smoke and smoke from burning yard waste this evening. Smoky air is one of the joys of living in this city.

6:00 PM: Light smoke from burning leaves. Somebody is burning yard waste. 52 degrees and partly cloudy.

6:15 PM: Light leaf smoke and a little wood smoke at this time. With the high winds of a few days ago, branches probably fell. The yard waste burner may be burning brush.

6:50 PM: Light wood smoke at this time.

8:00 PM: Light wood smoke continues.

9:00 PM: Light wood smoke continues.

10:00 PM: Light wood smoke continues. Last check of the evening.

Thursday 10/28/2010 Air Pollution

There was no wood smoke this evening. The evening temperature was 41 degrees. The colder it gets, the less wood smoke there is in the air. Summer is much smokier than winter in North St. Paul, MN.

Wednesday 10/27/2010 Air Pollution

It was another windy day. Not as windy as the day before, but still windy.

7:00 PM: Faint wood smoke at this time. 42 degrees and windy.

8:00 PM: No smoke.

9:00 PM: No smoke.

There was no more wood smoke for the rest of the night.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Tuesday 10/26/2010 Air Pollution

There was no wood smoke this evening. Another evening of fresh air! I forgot to record the temperature. I believe the evening temperature was in the upper 40s to low 50s. We had very high winds this evening. Wind gusts of 50 miles per hour were reported across the Twin Cities area. I have never seen high winds sustained for a long period of time like this. It was very windy all evening with the wind gusts continuing into Wednesday morning at 5:30 AM.

Monday, October 25, 2010

Monday 10/25/2010 Air Pollution

5:00 PM: No smoke. Cloudy with light drizzling rain. 58 degrees.

6:00 PM: Fresh air continues.

8:30 PM: Still no wood smoke yet. 60 degrees.

9:00 PM: No smoke. Raining at this time.

10:30 PM: No smoke. Pouring rain.

There was no wood smoke this evening.

Sunday 10/24/2010 Air Pollution

There was intermittent wood smoke all afternoon. Today was not a good day for those who enjoy unpolluted air.

12:15 PM: Light to moderate wood smoke at this time. 61 degrees.

1:00 PM: No wood smoke.

1:15 PM: Light to moderate wood smoke.

4:30 PM: Moderate wood smoke.

5:00 PM: No wood smoke. 57 degrees and cloudy.

6:15 PM: Light wood smoke.

8:25 PM: Faint wood smoke.

9:35 PM: A very faint smoke of some type is in the air.

10:30 PM: A very faint smoke of some type continues. Last check of the evening.

Saturday 10/23/2010 Air Pollution

We witnessed a miracle this evening. There was no wood smoke in the air. Not a trace. The air was fresh all night long. At noon there was some smoke from burning leaves that lasted less than 15 minutes. The temperature at 6 PM was 58 degrees.

Friday, October 22, 2010

Friday 10/22/2010 Air Pollution

4:30 PM: Fresh air. 67 degrees, sunny and beautiful.

6:00 PM: Still no smoke.

6:30 PM: A very faint smoke of some type is in the air. It is not strong enough to determine what it is. My assumption is burning leaves.

7:00 PM: A very faint smoke of some type continues in the air. 64 degrees. It will be a smoky night. It is warm for this type of year. When evening temperatures get into the 60s and below, we usually have some recreational fireplace use.

8:00 PM: A faint smoke of some type is in the air.

8:30 PM: Light wood smoke at this time.

9:30 PM: Light wood smoke.

11:15 PM: The air is mostly clear at this time. Last check of the evening.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Thursday 10/21/2010 Air Pollution

If you love smoky air, tonight's your night.

5:00 PM: No smoke. 53 degrees, sunny.

6:00 PM: No smoke where we are. I left the city at this time. I found my first cloud of wood smoke a block from home coming from a chimney. The area reeked of wood smoke. A half block from that I saw someone burning yard waste. When I turned the corner I spotted another cloud of smoke. When I passed a street I saw another cloud of smoke. Recreational fireplace use is going to be high tonight.

7:00 PM: No smoke where we live.

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

10:00 PM: Moderate wood smoke. The air is very smoky.

10:45 PM: Light to moderate wood smoke. 41 degrees. Last check of the evening.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Wednesday 10/20/2010 Air Pollution

It will probably another smoky hell of an evening.

5:00 PM: Fresh air for the time being. 62 degrees, sunny, and very windy. The TV news reports wind gusts of up to 40 miles per hour.

6:00 PM: Fresh air continues. Nothing is in it. The fresh air is wonderful! I stepped outside and took a few deep breaths of the unpolluted air. In a couple of hours the air will probably be smoky again. 60 degrees.

It is another smoky hell of an evening like I knew it would be. The air is always polluted in North St. Paul. Winter is the least smoky season in this town. I look forward to the arrival of zero degree temperatures. At least the air will not be smoky.

8:25 PM: Moderately strong wood smoke. The air is very smoky. Feeling restless, I considered going for a walk. I declined. Exercising in heavy air pollution is not enjoyable. If the wood smoke pollution is heavy enough, your sinuses burn, your throat burns and your eyes get irritated. Inhaling soot, ash, tar, and cancer-causing chemicals with every breath isn't something I really care to do.

8:50 PM: Light to moderate wood and leaf smoke. Somebody is burning leaves.

9:30 PM: Light to moderate wood smoke at this time. The yard waste burning seems to be finished. 52 degrees. Last check of the evening.

Tuesday 10/19/2010 Air Pollution

It was another smoky hell of an evening in North St. Paul, MN.

5:45 PM: No smoke. 59 degrees, sunny.

7:00 PM: No smoke.

8:00 PM: Faint to light wood smoke at this time. More smoky air. As usual.

9:00 PM: Moderate wood smoke. The air is very smoky at this time. I can smell wood smoke coming in around one of the windows. I hate this city.

10:00 PM: Moderate wood smoke continues. Last check of the evening.

Monday, October 18, 2010

Monday 10/18/2010 Air Pollution

4:30 PM: No smoke at this time. Sunny and 56 degrees. This is shaping up to be one of the best fall seasons I have ever experienced. There was a little light rain this morning. The ground was wet when I woke.

6:15 PM: No smoke.

7:20 PM: Light wood smoke. Smoky air again.

8:30 PM: Faint wood smoke.

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

10:00 PM: No smoke. Last check of the evening.

Sunday 10/17/2010 Air Pollution

There was no wood smoke this evening. I noticed no yard waste smoke all day. A couple windows were left slightly open around the house including the window in the room where I watched the Minnesota Vikings and other football games. The temperature was 57 degrees at 4 PM and it was cloudy. By 11 PM the temperature dropped to 48 degrees. At that cool temperature, there was not a trace of wood smoke in the air. It was wonderful. It was a great evening for everyone who loves fresh, unpolluted air. I stepped outside a couple of times this evening and took a few deep breaths of clean air. It is not usually possible to do that because the air in this city is so heavily polluted with wood smoke.

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Saturday 10/16/2010 Air Pollution

It will certainly be smoky tonight. There was no wood smoke this morning or all day. If fireplaces are used for home heating, why is there so little wood smoke in the morning which is the coldest part of the day? Fireplaces are not used for heating by most people around here. They are used for recreation.

7:00 AM: Fresh air. 46 degrees at this time.

5:00 PM: No wood smoke. Fresh air for now. 64 degrees, sunny, and very nice.

5:45 PM: A very faint trace of some type of smoke is in the air.

7:00 PM: A very faint trace of something is in the air.

8:00 PM: Faint wood smoke at this time.

9:00 PM: Light wood smoke at this time.

10:00 PM: Faint wood smoke.

11:00 PM: Faint wood smoke.

There is very little wood smoke in the morning, even during winter. But it is smoky in the evening all year around in North St. Paul.

Friday, October 15, 2010

Friday 10/15/2010 Air Pollution

Unless you like breathing smoky air every day of your life, you will hate North St. Paul, MN.

5:15 PM: No smoke. 60 degrees, sunny, beautiful.

6:45 PM: A very faint trace of smoke is in the air at this time.

7:35 PM: Very faint wood smoke is in the air.

8:15 PM: Light to moderate wood smoke. The air is pretty smoky. As it always is in this hell on earth town. 54 degrees.

9:20 PM: Moderate wood smoke. The air is very smoky now.

10:15 PM: Light wood smoke.

11:15 PM: Light wood smoke. Last check of the evening.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Thursday 10/14/2010 Air Pollution

Will we have another evening of smoky, polluted air? Most likely yes.

4:45 PM: No wood or yard waste smoke at this time. Sunny and 68 degrees measured at North High School.

6:00 PM: No smoke.

7:40 PM: No smoke.

8:05 PM: A very faint trace of wood smoke is in the air.

8:30 PM: Faint wood smoke is in the air at this time. More smoky air in North St. Paul. Every day the air is smoky. All year around.

9:00 PM: A very faint trace of wood smoke continues.

9:45 PM: A very faint trace of wood smoke continues.

10:52 PM: No smoke. Fresh air returns.

Wednesday 10/13/2010 Air Pollution

It was another evening with smoky air. As usual.

4:10 PM: No smoke. 66 degrees and sunny.

6:10 PM: No smoke yet.

6:30 PM: Still no smoke.

7:53 PM: Faint to light wood smoke at this time.

8:55 PM: A very faint trace of wood smoke remains in the air.

9:40 PM: The air is mostly clear but not fresh at this time. Last check of the evening.

The wood smoke was not too bad tonight. But as usual, there was wood smoke in the air.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Tuesday 10/12/2010 Air Pollution

More yard waste burning this evening. Aren't we lucky to live in a city with polluted air where people burn whatever they can get their hands on?

6:00 PM: No smoke yet. Sunny and 67 degrees at this time.

6:03 PM: Faint to light leaf smoke. Wouldn't you know it. Somebody had to start burning leaves. Close the windows. I hate this city.

6:10 PM: The burning leaf smoke from earlier is gone. Open the windows.

7:00 PM: No smoke. For the time being.

7:35 PM: Light to moderate leaf and wood smoke. Somebody probably started a bonfire in their firepit and are raking their leaves into the fire. This happens all the time in this nightmare city. The air is really smoky at this time. Is this how you would want to live your life every day? Close the windows again!

8:30 PM: Faint wood smoke at this time. The leaf burning is done. The wood burning continues. The air has been continuously smoky for the past hour.

9:00 PM: Faint wood smoke continues.

10:00 PM: The air is mostly clear at this time. The windows will remain closed all night. Last check of the evening.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Monday 10/11/2010 Air Pollution

The air was smoky when we went to bed. The air was smoky when we stepped outside in the morning. The North St. Paul nightmare never stops. Every day is misery in this town. If you buy a home here, you will regret it. North St. Paul, MN, is hell on earth!

6:43 AM: Faint to light wood smoke at this time. The air reeks. Either somebody started a fireplace on a mild fall night or the burning from last evening was left to smolder all night long. 56 degrees and a very nice morning except for the damn wood smoke pollution! Is it necessary to have a fireplace going when it is this warm with an expected high of 80 degrees later in the day?

4:00 PM: No wood or leaf smoke at this time. I am certain there will be later this evening. This city is a nightmare. It is the worst city you could ever live in. If the weather is nice, the air will almost certainly be smoky. Almost every day of your life. Winter is the least smoky season in this hell on earth city. 81 degrees, sunny, and gorgeous at this time.

There was no real wood or yard waste smoke this evening. There was a little very faint smoke that smelled like burning leaves shortly after 9 PM. But it did not last long and I could not determine what it was. The temperature was 79 degrees at 6:50 PM with a clear sky. It was a beautiful day. This counts as an evening with no wood or yard waste smoke. The Vikings were on Monday Night Football and that probably accounts for the lack of smoke this evening.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Sunday 10/10/2010 Air Pollution

North St. Paul is the worst city in America. It is a horrible place to live. Yard waste smoke on and off all day and wood smoke in the evening.

12:45 PM: Very faint grass smoke is in the air. 69 degrees. It did not last long.

1:57 PM: Light smoke from burning leaves. It did not last long.

2:42 PM: Very faint wood smoke. Probably burning brush.

3:45 PM: Faint grass smoke.

5:25 PM: Faint wood and leaf smoke.

5:39 PM: Light smoke from burning leaves.

6:33 PM: Light smoke from burning leaves.

7:00 PM: Light to moderate smoke from something. I cannot identify what is being burned even though the smoke is pretty strong.

8:00 PM: Light to moderate wood smoke. The air reeks. 68 degrees.

Do you want to live in a city like this?

9:30 PM: Strong wood and leaf smoke at this time. This air is extremely polluted! How the hell do our elected leaders sleep at night making us breathe air like this?

10:05 PM: Faint to light wood smoke at this time.

The air was still smoky when we woke up. North St. Paul sucks!

Saturday 10/09/2010 Air Pollution

It was another beautiful evening ruined by heavy wood smoke pollution in the horrible nightmare city of North St. Paul, MN.

6:00 PM: No wood smoke yet. I noticed no yard waste smoke at all today. The windows were open all over the house. If there was any yard waste smoke, it would have come in. 82 degrees, sunny, and gorgeous at this time.

7:00 PM: No smoke.

8:00 PM: No smoke.

8:45 PM: A very faint trace of wood smoke is in the air. The burner must be a distance from us. The smoke is not strong enough to require the windows to be closed. But I expect it to get heavier soon.

9:00 PM: A very faint trace of wood smoke continues. We are just barely able to smell it inside the house. The windows will need to be closed soon.

9:10 PM: Faint wood smoke. It is getting stronger. Close the windows. I hate the city of North St. Paul! This city is a HORRIBLE place to live!

9:20 PM: Moderate wood smoke. The air is now very smoky. As it almost always is on the weekends.

10:45 PM: Moderate wood smoke continues. Last check of the evening.

Do not buy a house in this city. If you purchase real estate in North St. Paul, you will be making the biggest mistake of your life!

Friday, October 8, 2010

Friday 10/08/2010 Air Pollution

It is a beautiful, summery day. This is our Indian Summer. With an absence of wood smoke for the last four days and weather as nice as this, there will certainly be bonfires tonight in the city of North St. Paul. I expect smoky air as usual.

5:30 PM: No wood or yard waste smoke yet. 87 degrees measured at North High School. It is sunny and beautiful!

6:30 PM: No smoke.

7:30 PM: No smoke. But there is a weird smell in the air. Almost like a fishy odor. It was in the air for a while a night or two ago.

8:30 PM: Light to moderate wood smoke and fishy smell. The North St. Paul nightmare returns. I hate this city! I have grown to despise North St. Paul, MN. We were very lucky to enjoy four consecutive days of smoke-free air. We are not so lucky tonight. I knew there would be wood smoke. There had to be. There almost always is. Close the windows!

You schmucks who run this city should be ashamed of yourselves for making us breathe smoky, polluted air so often. You suck!

8:50 PM: Light to moderate wood and leaf smoke. Somebody is burning leaves. It is another beautiful evening ruined by wood and yard waste smoke pollution.

10:00 PM: The air is mostly clear at this time. A very faint trace of smoke remains.

11:53 PM: The air is mostly clear. It is not fresh, but I cannot smell anything in it. Confident there would be no more smoke tonight, I opened the windows before bed.

The wood and yard waste smoke did not last too long tonight. I am inclined to believe that whoever was burning wood started a fire for the purpose of burning yard waste. People do that in this town. They start a fire in their firepit and rake their leaves and grass clippings into it. Regarding the fishy smell in the air, I am not sure what it was. Maybe it was a fish smell or something else. It did not last too long, either. I wonder what is causing it.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Thursday 10/07/2010 Air Pollution

It is a beautiful fall day. The sun is shining and it is a comfortable 75 degrees. The only thing that can ruin this evening is smoky air. If we can make it without wood or yard waste smoke, this will be our fourth evening in a row without smoky air.

4:45 PM: No smoke. 75 degrees. The normal high for this time of year is 63 degrees. It could be a long time before it gets as nice as it is going to be this week.

There was no wood or yard waste smoke this evening. This was our fourth night without smoky air.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Wednesday 10/06/2010 Air Pollution

4:15 PM: No smoke at this time. It is sunny and 72 degrees as measured at North High School. Could this be our third evening in a row without wood smoke pollution? With the temperature in this range there is not too much recreational fireplace use. But you never know when someone will start burning wood, grass, or leaves in this town.

There was no wood or yard waste smoke this evening. No bonfires, no fireplaces, and no burning of leaves or grass. It was a glorious evening of fresh, smoke-free air! I wish every evening was like this. This is how it used to be in the late 1990s.

Tuesday 10/05/2010 Air Pollution

It was a beautiful smoke-free evening. The temperature at 5 PM was 74 degrees. It was sunny and pleasant. I spent some time outside enjoying our final days of nice weather. This week could be our final stretch of nice weather until next April or May. North St. Paul is a nice place to live when the air isn't filled with wood smoke pollution, which is not very often. Every day should be free of recreational smoke pollution.

Monday 10/04/2010 Air Pollution

There was no real wood smoke this evening. The air was not entirely fresh. There was a very faint smoke of some type in the air after 8 PM. The high temperature reached 65 degrees today, about normal for this time of year. This will count as an evening without wood smoke.

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Sunday 10/03/2010 Air Pollution

The heavy wood smoke from last night continued well into Sunday morning. Don't you want to smell smoldering, smoky air first thing in the morning when you bring the paper in? It looks like we had our first frost. I believe this is the first.

3:45 AM: Moderate to strong wood smoke. This city is a polluted hell! The air reeks. You do not want to breathe this air.

5:10 AM: Moderate wood smoke continues. It is a stinky, smoldering wood smoke smell. This city is a horrible place to live. The air quality is very bad. The grass is covered in frost. The grass is covered in white and our lungs are probably black from breathing the polluted air in this city.

6:25 AM: Light to moderate smoldering wood smoke continues. That's about 10 hours of very smoky air.

8:15 AM: A faint smoldering wood smoke continues. The air smells unpleasant. Stick your face in the bottom of a fireplace and you will get the idea.

9:15 AM: The air is mostly clear. Thank God for breathable air!

How long will we get to enjoy fresh air before the yard waste and wood burning starts again?

It was another smoky hell of an evening. Like most evenings.

6:30 PM: No wood or yard waste smoke yet. 56 degrees.

7:15 PM: No smoke.

8:00 PM: No smoke.

9:00 PM: Light wood smoke at this time.

10:00 PM: Moderate wood smoke. The air reeks of burning wood. You can't smell anything but wood smoke.

11:25 PM: No smoke.

Saturday 10/02/2010 Air Pollution

Smoke from burning leaves in the afternoon and extremely heavy wood smoke all night and well into Sunday morning. We suffer tremendously for our crime of choosing to make a home in the city of North St. Paul, MN.

4:00 PM: Faint to light smoke from burning leaves. More yard waste burning. In another six weeks or about the leaf burning should be done for the season. 54 degrees and sunny at this time. When I checked the air a few minutes later the smoke was gone. The burning stopped or the breeze shifted direction.

5:00 PM: No smoke.

6:00 PM: No smoke.

7:00 PM: No smoke.

8:30 PM: Moderate to strong wood smoke. It is extremely smoky outside! This air is not fit for human consumption!

9:15 PM: Moderate to strong wood smoke continues.

10:00 PM: Moderate to strong wood smoke continues. Last check until after midnight.

When I woke up Sunday morning I could smell a trace of wood smoke in the basement. I took some damp towels down to the basement and right away I could smell wood smoke down there. The smoke pollution makes its way into your home even if you keep your windows and doors closed. The outside air continued to be smoky well into Sunday morning. At 8:15 AM a faint smoldering smokiness lingered in the air. Living in North St. Paul is like having a smoking log hanging under your nose several hours a day. This city is a nightmare.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Friday 10/01/2010 Air Pollution

Another evening with smoky air. Smoky, polluted air is an almost every day occurrence in North St. Paul. If you do not like breathing smoky air every day of your life, you will not enjoy living in this town. Be warned.

5:00 PM: No smoke yet. It rained a little earlier in the afternoon. 56 degrees.

6:10 PM: Faint wood smoke. It's always smoky in the evenings in this town.

7:00 PM: No real wood smoke at this time. The burning stopped or the breeze shifted direction. Probably the breeze.

8:00 PM: Light wood smoke at this time. If the windows were open, they would need to be closed.

9:00 PM: No wood smoke.

10:00 PM: No wood smoke. The air is fresh.

10:37 PM: No wood smoke. Fresh air continues. Last check of the evening.

Thursday 09/30/2010 Air Pollution

There was no wood or yard waste smoke this evening. Finally, an evening with unpolluted air! The evening temperature was about 70 degrees. The official high temperature for the Twin Cities was 72 degrees this day. It was a nice smoke-free evening for a change. We do not get many of those in this town.