I was totally dismayed upon receiving a 2011-2012 burn schedule. Here we go again at the insanity of it. I have been monitoring this event over the past five to six years and have written various letters on the subject.
It is obvious Langford council still has its head in the sand. It is time that I speak up again and make the people of Langford aware of events and facts. Let us start with the health risks.
Dr. Richard Stanwick, chief medical health officer for Vancouver Island, has clearly stated the dangers of smoke to our health.
Smoke that we see and breathe is bad enough but it is the tiny particles that we do not see that are much worse for us.
A new study out of the U.S. states that children five years and younger are the most susceptible to health risks. I have personally seen women walking their babies through great clouds of smoke in our area.
Here are some of my observations over the years: Whole neighbourhoods become engulfed in smoke from one fire.
A policy which states clean fire, burning only garden waste, is total bunk. There is no such thing as a clean fire and it is an excuse for many to burn their trash.
The situation is not enforced and when I have phoned the bylaw officer it has not made a difference. In the one instance the burner just added more debris.
Start with the guy a stone’s throw from the Langford fire hall and maybe 100 metres from the downtown core. The first week of last year’s season saw blue-black smoke belching blasting down, into said core.
So while you are enjoying your coffee at Tim Hortons, breathe deeply. Right behind the Loghouse Pub, the whole area plus the shopping centre near Chequered Flag restaurant is engulfed in smoke.
Langford is a very progressive city. It is no longer the little rural community by Western Speedway.
The fact that we’ve built brand new stadiums and then allow burning next to them dumfounds me.
You can be guaranteed either the soccer, Rebels football and now our national rugby, will have some contact with smoke. Hundreds of kids are playing soccer Saturday morning, the favourite time for the good old boys to burn. The solution: start promoting composting and making Langford’s gardens beautiful.
We need a facility (Alpine already has a lot of the infrastructure) where we can deposit and a call for a collection service.
So burners just remember, when you put that match to your pyre, who you are affecting? If you don’t think anything of it, put your children and elderly parents in the smoke and tell them all to breathe deeply.
John McGuire
Langford