Burning leaves

[Rat Bastid]

She loves me, she probably thinks I'm her dad

LOL…tru dat!!!! The resemblance is UNCANNY LOL

 

[MOPARMAGA]

My kitten killing a leaf

 

[33IMP]

I remember growing up in Southern California, many many years ago, we had an incinerator in the back yard, as did everybody in the neighborhood. I think it "went away" in the sixties. I think it became illegal to use.
Pretty sure your *** will get arrested for burning anything outside now here.

 

[mopowers]

I remember growing up in Southern California, many many years ago, we had an incinerator in the back yard, as did everybody in the neighborhood. I think it "went away" in the sixties. 8 think it became illegal to use.
Pretty sure your *** will get arrested for burning anything outside now here.

Out of curiosity, does the air seem cleaner today to you? I've heard stories from older relatives from Southern CA about not being able to see mountains 5-10 miles away back in the 60's and early 70's.

 

[33IMP]

Out of curiosity, does the air seem cleaner today to you? I've heard stories from older relatives from Southern CA about not being able to see mountains 5-10 miles away back in the 60's and early 70's.

That's absolute truth. The air here is 1000% cleaner than it was, even twenty years ago. The climate is terrific, the political climate.... not so much.

 

[33IMP]

If, and that's a big if, i decide to do something about the leaves, I leaf-blower (wired electric, gas will shortly become illegal) them up against a block wall, snow shovel them into an 85 gallon "green waste" barrel that the city supplies (that they charge me for, of course) and they disappear with the weekly trash pickup.

 

[junkyardhero]

Out of curiosity, does the air seem cleaner today to you? I've heard stories from older relatives from Southern CA about not being able to see mountains 5-10 miles away back in the 60's and early 70's.

100%

used to be when you came over the hill (in either direction) you could see the valley shrouded in smog or a big layer all over downtown and surrounding. and that's only 20 years ago.

much much better now.

 

[junkyardhero]

If, and that's a big if, i decide to do something about the leaves, I leaf-blower (wired electric, gas will shortly become illegal) them up against a block wall, snow shovel them into an 85 gallon "green waste" barrel that the city supplies (that they charge me for, of course) and they disappear with the weekly trash pickup.

same here. I have a decent little plot and a fair amount of trees. I just blow everything down and against the fence and either mulch it or shovel it into the greens.

they'll take my backpack blower when they pry it from my cold dead hands.

the electric blower is for blowing out the shop!

 

[go-fish]

I’m pretty sure I’ve got some cancer cells floating around. My co-worker is in the hospital about to die from cancer. They thought they had it but it came back stronger. He’s got two kids under 7 years old. I have a former Captain that got testicular cancer and had to have one removed. Had another co-worker that beat his cancer and came back to work. Many, many more that I do not know personally but heard of or are acquainted with that have gotten cancer.
There have been people in this job 5 years and get lung cancer. If you burn leaves for 20 years only once or twice a year you probably have the same risk.
My personal advice would be to mulch/ composte and if you do burn, do it in a high pressure weather system and not low pressure. High pressure and low humidity will allow the smoke to lift and not settle and linger. Also, don’t burn wet leaves. Wet smoke is heavier. Of course, the best burning conditions (for health and air quality) coincides with the highest chance of wildfire. It is possible to have a safe burn on a high pressure/low humidity day. Watch the wind and create distance between the piles and adjacent fuel so that you can light it and walk away from it.

A brief look - wildland firefighter smoke exposure and risk of lung and cardiovascular disease - Wildfire Today
By Kathleen M. Navarro, U.S. Forest Service
(currently with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Wildland firefighters are exposed to health hazards including inhaling hazardous pollutants from the combustion of live and dead vegetation (smoke), and breathing in ash and soil dust, while working long shifts with no respiratory protection. This research brief summarizes a study estimating long-term health impacts of smoke exposure for wildland firefighters (Navarro et al. 2019). The study estimated relative risk of lung cancer and cardiovascular disease mortality from existing particulate matter (PM) exposure-response relationships using a measured PM concentration from smoke and breathing rates from previous wildland firefighter studies across different exposure scenarios.

Key Findings:

• Firefighters who worked both short and long seasons (49 days and 98 days per year, respectively) were exposed to increased lifetime doses of PM4 across all career durations (5-25 years).
• Wildland firefighters were estimated to be at increased risk of lung cancer (8 to 43 percent) and cardiovascular disease (16 to 30 percent) mortality across all season lengths and career durations.
• These findings suggest that wildland firefighters should reduce exposure to smoke in any way possible

 

[diymirage]

Bag your leaves. Put them at the curb. The city or borough will pick them up.

our town does that and it drives me crazy
they dont require bags here either, people just pile em on the side of the road

and i dont care of 2/3s of it is on the people personal property and a little is in the street, but there have been times where there is a pile of leaves the size of a sedan on the side of the road, effectively blocking an entire lane of traffic

it used to piss me off, but now i just drop the plow and redisperse them

 

[Dfr360cuda]

What city!??? Thank God.

Pittsburgh

 

[Dfr360cuda]

I'm going to let you guys on in a easy safe way to deal with your leaves, simply run over them with your mower, the mower grinds them up so fine that you can't see them and it's great fertilizer for your yard, I've been doing this for years.

Why didn’t I think of that.

 

[LocuMob]

I’m pretty sure I’ve got some cancer cells floating around. My co-worker is in the hospital about to die from cancer. They thought they had it but it came back stronger. He’s got two kids under 7 years old. I have a former Captain that got testicular cancer and had to have one removed. Had another co-worker that beat his cancer and came back to work. Many, many more that I do not know personally but heard of or are acquainted with that have gotten cancer.
There have been people in this job 5 years and get lung cancer. If you burn leaves for 20 years only once or twice a year you probably have the same risk.
My personal advice would be to mulch/ composte and if you do burn, do it in a high pressure weather system and not low pressure. High pressure and low humidity will allow the smoke to lift and not settle and linger. Also, don’t burn wet leaves. Wet smoke is heavier. Of course, the best burning conditions (for health and air quality) coincides with the highest chance of wildfire. It is possible to have a safe burn on a high pressure/low humidity day. Watch the wind and create distance between the piles and adjacent fuel so that you can light it and walk away from it.

View attachment 1716015429

View attachment 1716015430

View attachment 1716015431

View attachment 1716015432


A brief look - wildland firefighter smoke exposure and risk of lung and cardiovascular disease - Wildfire Today
By Kathleen M. Navarro, U.S. Forest Service
(currently with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Wildland firefighters are exposed to health hazards including inhaling hazardous pollutants from the combustion of live and dead vegetation (smoke), and breathing in ash and soil dust, while working long shifts with no respiratory protection. This research brief summarizes a study estimating long-term health impacts of smoke exposure for wildland firefighters (Navarro et al. 2019). The study estimated relative risk of lung cancer and cardiovascular disease mortality from existing particulate matter (PM) exposure-response relationships using a measured PM concentration from smoke and breathing rates from previous wildland firefighter studies across different exposure scenarios.

Key Findings:

• Firefighters who worked both short and long seasons (49 days and 98 days per year, respectively) were exposed to increased lifetime doses of PM4 across all career durations (5-25 years).
• Wildland firefighters were estimated to be at increased risk of lung cancer (8 to 43 percent) and cardiovascular disease (16 to 30 percent) mortality across all season lengths and career durations.
• These findings suggest that wildland firefighters should reduce exposure to smoke in any way possible

I hope you live a long and happy life, your job is definitely a hazardous one. Thanks for sharing the incredible pictures you do.