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SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4 News) – Tuesday was another hazy day along the Wasatch front, which means that bonfires are forbidden … but is there anyone who really pays attention to your chimney or your woodstove?
Violations may result in a citation and a fine, but ABC4 News has learned that this rarely happens.
Wood smoke and soot particles are small, less than 2.5 microns and more easily absorbed by the lungs and bloodstream, making them more dangerous. They can trigger asthma attacks, respiratory infections or even heart attacks.
Donna Kemp Spangler, Director of Communications for the Utah's Department of Environmental Quality, said the ban is effective on yellow or yellow air quality day.
"Whenever we live in even moderately unhealthy conditions, there is a mandatory restriction of non-burning," Spangler said. "So, most of the winter, they do not burn."
The Utah Air Quality Division relies on county health departments to investigate tips for violating the burning ban.
"The agents of the authority will go out and go check if there is evidence of fires," Spangler said. "They have infrared cameras to see if there are traces of smoke in the chimneys or in the wood stoves and will quote the offending person."
ABC4 News asked how many quotes were issued this winter.
"I think we've released one, and I'm not sure it was," Spangler said. "It could have been Utah County, so I think it was the Utah County Health Department."
Dr. Brian Moench, founder of Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment, reacted to this.
"We need more of that," said Dr. Moench. "People need to understand how toxic wood smoke is and how it can be concentrated in a neighborhood where only one person burns wood … A California study suggests that if you live downwind of any kind, then you will not be able to burn it. a wood stove, you can have a hundred times more pollution exposure than someone who is a mile away. "
One of the reasons why so few quotes have been issued is that law enforcement officers must charge offenders in law and even then they usually only give a warning.
The Salt Lake County Department of Health has announced that it has sent seven warning letters this winter, but no quote has been given.
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