Discussions

Wondering why, and lamenting, the smokey air. Would be so nice to sit outside and enjoy the weather but asthma prevents doing so due to the prevalent smokey air so much of the time. We live just west of the Keystone Centre.  
Had to give up going camping because of campfire smoke, now seem to be forced to say indoors with windows closed at home too.  
Are there grass fires, forest fires, or just so many people who have fires in their backyards?  
Any thoughts?  
Hoping things will change soon . . .

that we cannot sit outside and enjoy fresh air without smelling someone's fire pit all summer long. Must be a status symbol in our city because everyone's gotta have one!  
Worse yet is to have to close your windows in your own home so you can breathe!  
There should be a buffer zone for people like yourself with asthma and other breathing issues that neighbours cannot have back yard fires. We have a buffer zone for mosquito spraying which is ridiculous. When the malathion is sprayed we can close our windows, end of. But smoke lingers and coats everything with it's stench.  
I say if you want to enjoy a campfire, go camping!!  
Have you voiced your opinion to your city councillor?  
Nothing changes unless people start complaining!

There are 31 fires burning from Manitoba to bc . Smoke is always a possibility this time of the year.

I would be pretty upset if someone complained about backyard fire pits and they brought out a buffer zone regarding them.  
 
Not eveyone has a vehicle to travel to camp, we love our fire pit.  
 
3 people in our household as asthma, one one them pretty bad, and none of them complain when we are having a fire.  
 
I get wanting to enjoy your summer, who doesnt? I like to go shopping without dying from sinusbpain because people like to take a bath in their cologne and purfume. Does that mean I should complain to every business that I got to to try to make it mandatory that you cannot wear scents in their business? No, I deal with it  
 
Have fun, complain about something that is an actual issue.

Making neighbours suffer consequences for someone’s asthma is ridiculous. A buffer zone? Really though. Next we can’t bbq because of smoke or use a smoker, because, you know, asthma.

I have asthma, the dust bugs me, dogs bug me, smoke bugs me, people with a tone of perfume is the worst. With that being said, I have learned to live with it. I carry my puffer and don't constantly whine about it. Its my problem not everyone elses. I learned how to cope with it when i was small. If it gets bad enough and i have to close a few windows so be it. That rarely happens though. Why should everyone adjust their lives for me? If we make exceptions for everyones issues then where would we be? No one would be allowed to do anything. What about exhause fumes? Does that bother you too? It does me, should we all quit driving?

Nobody in city limits and neighborhoods are having fires that cause heavy smoke in the city. Fire pits are small contained fire that will blow smoke up or one direction the wind is blowing. Simple solution is to close your window on that side. If someone’s back yard fire is blowing in every single window of your house, then their whole house must be on fire.

I am sick and tired of having to close my windows because of the smoke! Getting ridiculous! Finally get some cool air to open windows and it wreaks!

Didn’t you say we should rename rosser snow white way? As a joke to everyone being offended. Yet you’re offended by a fire pit? Lmao

Well if there is no wind in my town the smoke hangs around in the evenings and early mornings, the smoke bothers me when I walk the dog. I’ll live with that , don’t want to ruin other people’s family time around their fire pits but I have recently noticed a few people cutting up old pallets and burning them and that gives off some really nasty smoke and fumes .

For that I hate motorcycles and trumped up vehicles with engines that are louder than a construction site. I hate it when people blast their music so loud it vibrates every fiber in your body.  
 
I like silence so I can hear.  
 
Anyone out there want laws and buffer zones to stop all the loud noises.  
 
We all have our ‘stuff’. It is unreasonable to expect other people to adjust their lifestyle choices to accommodate one person.

You know what? i don't like the loud motorcycles either but they're not sitting there idling, they are gone right away so not really a valid complaint. Smoke does linger, it coats everything.

where did i say i am offended by a fire pit? What I am saying is that smoke bothers me. If i sit by a person that reeks of cigarette smoke (ones that seem to never wash their hair, person or clothes) i break out in hives.  
Glad you find health issues so amusing.  
I used to have a relative on oxygen, if there was smoke in the air she would be house bound.  
As for the asthmatics who say that they love the fire pit smoke anyway.... secondhand smoke affects everyone's lings, yours are already compromised so I'd be careful if i were you.

You never spoke of second hand cigarette smoke, no one enjoys that.  
 
You spoke specifically of fire pits, and wanting a ‘safe space’ from them & wanted people to start complaining to city council.

by the fire pit why do you think it's not classified as second hand smoke? You think any smoke is good for a person and their lungs????? Cause it's not!  
I can't even BBQ any more because of the smell, think that's worth a laugh too?

You have no right to dismiss my complaint as less than yours. There is nothing so high and mighty as a person who can only see their own complaint as valid.  
 
Yes smoke, if you are sitting near it will get into fabric but really it doesn't coat everything. Don't exaggerate your issue to make it sound worse. I doubt smoke from a neighbours yard, unless it is a full out house burning down, is going to 'coat' everything around you sitting a few doors down or even next door. I am also adverse to cigarette smoke. I avoid standing near a person smoking because it triggers migraines and I don't want the cigarette smell in my clothes. If I walk by a smoker who smells of cigarette smoke it triggers memories of migraines and if strong may restrict breathing for a brief moment but not an actual migraine.  
 
It can be a challenge living in a city or town where people are close. Everyone has an issue that bothers them.  
 
If your health is being affected then it is your choice to move where you can to avoid the offending issue.  
 
Edited by Spades!!, 2020-06-20 10:55:24

is not less than mine. i said noise doesn't bother me if its passing. If wood smoke would come in one window and toodooloo out the back without leaving its stench i'd be hunky dory with it but it doesn't. For you to say that smoke doesn't stay in a home, give me a break.  
 
In this pandemic reports of better air quality were trumpeted across the news because factories were shut down, air travel halted and people weren't driving their vehicles. All that is bad for the environment but people burn wood and that's just alright.  
 
Move? i suggest you don't outside in the summer so you don't have to hear the motorcycles people wait all winter to drive!

So I'm suggesting we just leave it be and respectfully agree to disagree.  
 
The point I am trying to make has been said by other posters in this thread. Everyone has their own thing they dislike. One person with asthma is bothered by smoke from a fire pit and isolates themselves inside their house while the next person with asthma can sit next to a fire pit but simply sit out side of the path of the smoke and enjoy the evening. What is the reason for the two different reactions? maybe one person's asthma is worse, has different triggers, may be that person's anxiety increases causing their asthma reaction to get worse. I don't know.  
 
What I am trying to get across is that to live together there has to be a level of tolerance for each other's differences. We can't set up 'buffer zones' for every situation. If it is not working for you, maybe you can politely ask the neighbour with the fire pit (as an example) to help you out, meet you halfway. If that doesn't work and the neighbour is not breaking any bylaws but your health is seriously impacted then we often have to make choices for ourselves, if we are in a position to do so, as to where we live to minimize the impact of other people's choices.  
 
it is far from a perfect world and IMO there is no one right answer.