2nd/3rd street smells like campfire / smoke - evening May 28th
I am on 2nd street... this happens some times in the summer around here (people having bonfires in their back yards?)
Anyway - tonight it is really strong;I walked around at 9:30 p.m. wondering if maybe it was actually a big fire, but couldn't find the source... It just smelled strong all the way up and down my street.
Anyone else notice it?
We have the windows open, and now our whole house smells like a camp fire - I hope whatever was/is burning wasn't toxic!
Views: 29
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by skywalker on -
Open-air burning is not allowed in Toronto. If you can't track the source and talk to the people (chances are they don't know it's illegal) you can call Toronto Fire Services Tel: 416-338-9451. I believe this is the non-emergency number. I've had to do this and Toronto Fire Services were most helpful.
I live in the same area as you and the neighbours behind me were burning skids (two houses, each with a chiminea one house apart.) One neighbour was very reasonable and one was not.
Don't like ruining anyone's fun, but this is a health and safety issue.Several studies have demonstrated that inhaling wood smoke increases the incidence and severity of respiratory disease, affecting the elderly and children most and those with lung or heart disease. I have asthma and was made very ill by these type of campfires.
http://www.toronto.ca/fire/news/open_air/index.htm
-
Permalink Reply by Schteevie on -
thanks for the detailed reply.
I will be sure to call next time I smell it.
Agreed that it is a health issue, beyond safety; on nice summer nights we sleep with the windows open, so fresh, clean air is a real concern - Beyond our health, we have a one year old!
-
Permalink Reply by Vytas B. on -
"Open air burning shall not be permitted unless approved, or unless such burning consists of a small, confined fire, supervised at all times, and used to cook food on a grill or a barbecue." - So, it's all good as long as you use it for food.
On the other hand I wonder what happened to the people, as they complain about wood smoke while being all content with breathing the exhaust fumes of lawnmowers and leaf blowers... And the latter produce huge clouds of dust as well (that go to neighbours yards).
BTW, by saying wood smoke I mean only untreated wood, as burning pressure treated or any other chemically treated wood requires a certain level of stupidity.
-
Permalink Reply by pn on -
I'm on Third, but I didn't notice anything on the 28th - are you north or south of Lakeshore?
We have a small hibachi-like fire pit that we use for grilling sometimes (once a month or so) - but that's allowed as far as I can tell from the website listed here. We certainly haven't had any complaints for anyone and we certainly don't use anything but raw firewood.
We weren't burning anything on the 28th, but I would certainly want to know if it was bothering anyone.
-
Permalink Reply by Schteevie on
-
thnx for the replies.
we are north of the shore around the middle of the street - just far enough from the liquor store, and far enough from the main entrance of the school :)
anyway - I figured small cooking fires are cool - heck, my BBQ can put out some smoke, but what I was smelling seemed more like a massive bonfire, or an actual building burning down.
(I notice this type of thing a few times per summer - maybe it just has to do with the wind direction/speed and a small fire can seem bigger if you are downwind...?
Agreed about lawn mowers and leaf blowers - both should be outlawed; noise pollution as well as fumes!
We use a simple push mower for our reasonable sized yard, and a rake/broom to deal with leaf debris.
-
Permalink Reply by pn on
-
We're north as well. We didn't smell anything strange on the 28th, although I think we were inside well before 9:30.
I'm with you on the lawn mowers and leaf blowers - on Saturday I was standing at the back of my yard staining a box planter when I got hit with a cloud of dust and exhaust from a gas mower right through the privacy fence. I had to scramble away, coughing and wait for the guy move on before I returned. Not to mention the noise - this fella clearly didn't bother removing sticks and twigs before attacking his lawn - every few minutes something was getting eaten by those blades making a sound that gave me flashes of the wood chipper scene from 'Fargo'.
I was saying to my wife the other day that these noisy implements should be restricted to business hours on weekdays and a few hours on weekends - perhaps 9 -12 on Saturdays - then we could all look forward to peaceful afternoons. It's quite annoying to sit down to a good meal in the comfort of your own yard only to be interrupted by the deafening roar of an antiquated, polluting machine.
I was fairly happy with my electric mower - much quieter than the gas counterparts & no exhaust - but I, too, went push mower this year. I love it - good exercise, too. It amazes me that people spend lots of cash on machines in order to make things easier and less strenuous, then spend more money going to a gym to get some exercise because of their sedentary lives.
But I digress...
-
Permalink Reply by Mark Fawcett on -
worry more about the gas plant they are trying to put in South Etobicoke then some wood smoke, what about Campbells right up the road from you, bet you like the onion soup smell when the wind is from the North North East.....
A little wood smoke wont hurt you.....
-
Permalink Reply by wendy gamble on -
There is a power plant planned for south Oakville which is being fought strenuously by the residents...why would there be one in South Etobicoke as well???? Tell us more, please!
-
Permalink Reply by Schteevie on
-
agreed - please explain more about this proposed "gas plant"?
also, I am happy to smell the harmless various flavours of soup occasionally (wind is not from the north/east very often anyway), over inhaling any kind of smoke, even rarely.
-
Permalink Reply by wendy gamble on
-
Having attended Second Street School for Home Economics when I was in Grades 6, 7, and 8 at Seventh Street School (yes, we actually walked the five blocks ourselves once a week) and having taught at Second Street for fifteen years, I think that I could be an authority on Campbell's smells. In tours of the facility at Campbell's, I was told that the smells coming out of the plant are generic BUT I do think that you know the days of tomato and onion.
© 2012 Created by Our Lakeshore.
Powered by 
.
