Trapped and sick in New England
I developed adult onset asthma, allergies and chemical sensitivity. I’ve been dealing with a slew of autoimmune issues I developed as an adult.
I don’t remember our neighborhoods being filled with smoke. Growing up most people bricked up their chimneys or they put candles in them to look cute. Locals knew they were inefficient for heating and considered them antiquated.
I used to look forward to New England fall and winters. Now I dread them. I have neighbors whose home is adjacent to mine. Less than 20 feet away, who use their fireplace for extended hours sometimes on consecutive days. The smoke billows around my property and our street. So then I am trapped. I can’t go out to walk my dog or even get in my car. I can’t open a window if I want to air out my home. I can’t enjoy my own yard.
I’m reactive to the PM2.5 that causes my asthma to spiral downhill rapidly. Causing me to use asthma meds that I would otherwise not need to use. I was placed on a second biologic to see if it could help reduce the symptoms caused by wood smoke. I reacted badly to the medication and have been dealing with several side effects to the medication. A medication I would not have needed to even contemplate if they would stop burning. When they burn the fumes enter my home. I literally have 7 air filters going to try to clear the air. But it still causes me respiratory distress. I’ve tried speaking to my neighbors but they love the smell of burning wood.
Why do they believe it’s ok to subject me and our other neighbor to these toxic fumes. Why is it ok for me to be in physical distress, so they can pretend to live the life of someone in a pre-heating system era is beyond me.
I’ve suggested they get a gas fireplace so they can enjoy the flames to their hearts content without impacting my health or those of my neighbors. But I was told no, that they like the smell of wood.
In a country where we have banned cigarette smoking in restaurants, bars and public spaces, why is it ok for my neighbors to burn to the extent of multiple times the toxicity of 1 cigarette right next to my home? Where the fumes engulf not just my yard but the entire street and enter my home. Why is that ok? Why is it that someone else thinks it’s ok for me to be sick all the time.
I feel like It takes weeks for my lungs to recuperate after they burn and when I’m just feeling better again they start all over. It’s the most painful physical cycle. I feel pain in my lungs when they burn. I feel pain in my chest.
I feel like I can’t breathe. I can’t relax, I can’t sleep. I can’t function. I feel like my life is on hold while I try to catch my breath and then the time it takes to recouperate. I’m sick of being sick.
No one should be allowed to burn wood in a major metropolitan city. We live too close to each other and we are already in a higher pollution area. We have the highest asthma rates in our state. Fireplaces should not be grandfathered in with homes. I just want to breathe without pain or fear.