Editor:

It rained the past few days. Yesterday evening I sat in my wicker rocker on the front porch, watching the rain fall, enjoying the fresh-washed air.

The sun’s back out today. I find myself wondering now if my neighbors will be burning again tonight. Will I be forced to close all my windows and stay in the house again? Will I close everything up in time to avoid a headache, sore throat and plugged-up ears?

I made it clear to the police officers who responded last time I called that I do not have asthma, COPD, or any other life-threatening condition that would necessitate a visit to the ER over this. My reaction to the smoke from local “recreational burning” is just plain mediocre misery. My headaches remain long after the smoke dissipates. The kicker is, once emissions from a fire have created a miserable situation in the air, a phone call to report it to authorities is like closing the barn door after the horse is already gone. We need a more proactive/preemptive way to address this problem, hopefully without one neighbor having to antagonize another night after night. I’m already Ms. Popularity – NOT!

As Bellevue council members consider what to do in a new ordinance over the next few weeks, I hope they’ll kindly consider the minority of us who suffer acute health symptoms from wood burning emissions. Retailers have been selling lots of fire pits and chimineas over recent years. They’re definitely here in Bellevue now. We saw with the recent volcano eruption in Iceland that air currents carried the emissions to Europe and forced Europeans to close their airports -- while Iceland’s remained open!

Since the air up the street is not likely to stay up the street, I hope council can craft a reasonable way for all of us to enjoy life outdoors in this tight little urban community of ours.

Carol A. Wivell
Bellevue