Wood Smoke Stories

Pulmonary fibrosis in a smoke-filled house

We purchased a 108 year old historic home almost two years ago. We’ve had a lot of problems in that the prior owners didn’t disclose a lot to us, including the fact that the neighbor’s fireplace blows right into our house. Our house is 2½ stories high, the neighbor’s is a single story, so the smoke from their chimney blows right at our house and hits it. We have very old single-paned windows that don't seal well so the smoke just blows right inside.

To make matters worse, my partner has Pulmonary Fibrosis. Since we moved into this house, it’s gotten much, much worse. He’s now been told he needs a lung transplant. Last night we went to bed and within minutes, my chest was seizing up. We recently bought a very expensive air filter, so I brought it up to the bedroom and the level light immediately went to red. Fortunately it cleared the air pretty quickly, but it got me wondering if it hasn’t been the neighbor’s fireplace that has made the pulmonary fibrosis so bad now, that he needs a lung transplant. I don’t know what to do. We can’t afford to move. We can’t afford to replace all the windows.

E.A.
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