At a great loss I moved

I’ve been a victim of wood smoke pollution in Connecticut. Ten years ago I moved from a neighborhood of OWBs, brush burning, cooking outside, chimeneas burning trash, open pit fire burning, scented wood chip barbecuing, clearing of acres of land burning and surrounded by eight indoor wood burning stoves within a mile. People were burning trash and plastics.

The people clearing land burned all Memorial Day Weekend and I had to be outside taking care of my horse. I lost my voice and it took months for it to clear up. My horse was heaving all the time. At a great loss I moved.

I’ve been where I am for ten years now and the burning seems to be increasing. The enormous piles of wood all over the area is unbelievable. People are making a living selling wood.

A lot just sold across the street and I’m terrified this person will heat with wood. The other neighbor across the street loves their fire pits despite giving them notice the smoke sits in my yard. There is nothing worse than breathing smoky dirty air. It’s like being in a constant forest fire.

There are no controls over what people can burn and impossible to enforce. I’m preparing to move again at a great cost. I have significant heart disease and cannot believe there aren’t more laws to protect people from this pollution. I have lived in rural areas for 40 years and by observation this burning craze started about 15 years ago.

There are a lot of groups educating the public about wood smoke pollution without any real public health remedies. The Burn Wise initiatives are a complete joke. Thank you.