Continued: Feeling the burn over back-yard fires

On Judy Peterson's block in south Minneapolis, back-yard fires are a neighborly event. Every weekend, someone has a fire in a back-yard pit or metal bowl, and friends wander over to visit and have a beer.

"You get the smell of camping in the outdoors without having to rough it or go out of town," said Peterson. "You get the country in the city."

Those words are just what the outdoor patio industry wants to hear. Their fire pits, fire rings, portable metal saucers and chimney-shaped fireplaces have become big sellers in recent years.

But as back-yard recreational burning has spread, so have complaints about the smoke wafting into bedrooms and living rooms next door or across the alley. What started as mere irritation at a smell some consider a nuisance has turned into concerns about a health threat to people with breathing problems triggered by smoke. Maplewood is reviewing its policies on burning. Health groups warn that airborne particles from the fires can irritate lungs. An environmental group is advocating a ban.

"When the window is open I taste it," said Connie Sullivan, who lives in the southeast Como neighborhood near the University of Minnesota. One neighbor burns outdoors frequently, she said, and on Labor Day weekend, the wind channeled the smoke directly into her home. "The whole house reeked of it: the rugs, the draperies, the clothes, everything," she said. When Sullivan spoke to the neighbor, he told her to close her windows.

"It's that kind of attitude that worries me," she said. "It's become a problem for people who are nonburners."

"Some people smell wood and immediately their minds go back to those childhood days with their parents and their aunts and their uncles and their grandparents, and it's nothing but a good feeling," said Mike O'Rourke of the North Central Hearth, Patio and Barbecue Association.

But while one group of friends gathers around glowing embers on a chilly autumn evening, roasting marshmallows for the last s'mores of the year, the next-door neighbor may be rushing around the house shutting windows and reaching for an inhaler.

Lungs stressed

The problem with wood smoke, said Dr. Norman Edelman, chief medical officer for the American Lung Association, is that it contains hundreds of toxic chemicals, almost like cigarette smoke.

Burning also releases lots of fine particulates, he said. Some get stuck in the nose and throat and cause irritation and coughing. But extremely fine particles penetrate into the deepest part of the lungs, Edelman said, causing inflammation that provokes acute breathing problems for those who have asthma, bronchitis or other respiratory diseases.

Concerns about wood smoke from recreational burning are similar to workplace complaints about people who wear strong fragrances, he said.

"People have a right not to have their health and well- being impaired by what other people do, especially if what other people are doing is not necessary," Edelman said.

John Seltz, air policy supervisor for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, said that it's not necessary for the state to regulate recreational burning, because ambient air quality is generally good. However, he said, that doesn't hold true for someone just downwind of a smoky fire who is getting a heavy dose of pollutants. "In individual nuisance situations, cities will have to try and work them out," Seltz said.

It's difficult to quantify the extent of the complaints because they filter into a wide variety of government agencies. But as communities hear more complaints linked to health concerns, some are responding. Maplewood recently established a task force to review its policies, spearheaded by Council Member Will Rossbach. There are strong feelings on both ends of the spectrum, said Rossbach, and he doesn't know whether the group will reach a consensus.

"If it turns out that only a few in the city have real problems, does that mean that we should do something to give them protection, or do we say: Tough luck, move somewhere else?" Rossbach said.

Late-night burning

Existing local rules about wood smoke focus mainly on safety concerns, not health.

Many suburbs, including Minnetonka, St. Louis Park, Edina and Woodbury, require residents to obtain a free annual permit for recreational fires. The purpose is to make people read rules that set limits on hours for burning, what may and may not be burned, the size of fires and other conditions.

Minneapolis and St. Paul do not require permits, but have similar rules for burning. Minneapolis Fire Marshal Bryan Tyner said that most trouble seems to be from fires not extinguished by 10 p.m. or the burning of prohibited materials, such as brush and garbage.

Julie Mellum, Midwest director of Clean Air Revival, a California-based environmental group, advocates a ban on back-yard wood burning. Mellum, who lives in the Linden Hills neighborhood of south Minneapolis, said that she and many others are extremely sensitive to outdoor smoke, and sometimes need to wear masks or remain indoors to avoid getting sick.

City air already has too many pollutants from traffic, indoor fireplaces and other sources, Mellum said, without allowing more. "To pollute for fun just doesn't cut it," she said. "It's just not neighborly to smoke people out."

Back-yard burning has others concerned about the safety of their homes. Natalie Reciputi said that even small, legal fires are simply too risky in many urban neighborhoods, with their narrow lots and with only a few feet between houses. "I live in a house that's wood and it's 100 years old," she said. "One spark and there goes my entire life's investment."

Tom Meersman • 612-673-7388