Burning leaves

I have an 80 foot tall maple on my property, my first spring here I burnt some leaves, it was a cold day so I found it nice to stand by the burn barrel. Nope, very bad idea.
Since then I've developed allergies and become prone to sinus infections. This is 2 years of it now.
My neighbor advised me to pile them up in my yards and mow over them.... But lol, I got a sinus infection from the damn dust I created.
Not so funny, I had to miss Thanksgiving with my family.
Moral of the story is every action has a reaction and sometimes a consequence which is more like a punishment for not thinking things through completely.