Our unseasonably warm March has led to an early start of North St. Paul's burning season. I usually don't start documenting smoky air from bonfires until April. If this early burning is any indication, it is going to be a long, smoky hell of year. It's always polluted as hell in North St. Paul. 2012 could be the worst year ever for wood smoke pollution. I find more of those chimnea and metal fire baskets every year.
I saw my first bonfire on Saturday March 10th. The house on the corner of Beam & Chippewa was burning wood in their firepit. The ground was soggy, snow was still on the ground, and they could not wait to sit slumped in chairs in front of a smoky fire. They looked bored. The temperature was about 58 degrees at the time, about 6:45 PM. The smoke was drifting north and I could smell it all the way to Lydia in Maplewood, a quarter of a mile away.
I saw my second bonfire on Wednesday the 14th. A home on the corner of Shoshone & Chippewa had a fire burning unattended in a fire basket. I did not see anyone around in the yard. This is the first time I have seen that house burn. I saw a metal fire basket in the backyard a few weeks ago and it may be that another household has decided to join the smoke pollution party. There were smoky patches of air all over the place this evening. The temperature was 70 degrees when I was out. The smoke may have been from bonfires or recreational fireplace use. Does anyone need to have a fireplace going to heat their home when it is 70 degrees outside?
Our winter seemed smokier than past winters. I documented the smoky air every day this winter. I haven't decided if I am going to update the blog with the winter wood smoke conditions. You expect wood smoke in the air during the cold months. But winter is our least smoky season in the city of North St. Paul. The air in winter is much less polluted than in spring, summer, and fall.
As with most winters, there was almost never any wood smoke in the air during the morning hours or early afternoon on weekends. People need to heat their homes at 7 AM during the week, but they aren't using fireplaces to do it. The smoky air in winter occurs mainly during the evenings. Fireplaces are not used for home heating as much as for recreation. If people were using fireplaces for home heating the air would be smoky at all hours of the day.