Give the kids their afternoon 'wiener roasts' says councillor before Monday vote on evening-only fires
City councillors to decide Monday afternoon on 5-11 p.m. burning window for fire pits
Monday afternoon's vote on whether to legally limit people's use of fire pits to 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. should be a crackling one, judging by the letters Saskatoon residents have fired off on the issue.
A larger-than-normal amount of correspondence to the city runs the gamut of emotions — from calls for the city to phase out wood burning in favour of propane-fuelled pits, to fears of elitist favouritism should the proposed time window get passed.
"I would hope that outdoor fire pits and indoor fireplaces be treated on an equal basis," Joseph Blatz recently wrote. "Both are equally bad for our environment.
"So please do not give in to the basically higher-income people who can afford to have an indoor fireplace."
Lakeview resident Wendy Janzen, who wants the city to back propane fire pits ("Costco sells them"), says outdoor wood burning has made gardening "impossible" and turned "neighbour against neighbour."
"Those who suffer are scared to speak out because they become the target of anger," she wrote.
Even a union of city workers couldn't resist poking its stick in.
Majority of City Employees are currently working without contract but yes, let’s focus on firepits. One of the few things people enjoy in a short summer.
—@CUPELocal859'Too early for a shutdown'
The committee of councillors who set the stage for Monday's 1 p.m. vote already extinguished two more stringent ideas: permits for fire pit owners and a ban, period, on burning wood in new neighbourhoods.
But that same subset of councillors was divided on the idea of a six-hour, evening-only burning window.
Two councillors, Bev Dubois and Hilary Gough, alongside mayor Charlie Clark, were warm to the idea of 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Two others, Darren Hill and Zach Jeffries, were not. Troy Davies wasn't there for the vote.
Chances of success?
Monday will potentially see all city councillors weigh in before the final vote. CBC News reached out to those councillors who hadn't been heard from on the issue.
"I haven't decided yet. I'll wait to hear the submissions on Monday," said Cynthia Block.
Randy Donauer is also keeping an open mind until the vote.
But said he's not up for a full ban and that the proposed 11 p.m. back-end is "too early for a shutdown" and the 5 p.m. start time "too late" for some activities.
"Some people want afternoon kids' wiener roasts," he said.
You can count Montgomery Place resident Daryl Yablonski among that camp.
"It should be my decision whether to have a wiener roast at noon or a glass of wine by the fire at midnight," he wrote.
Rules "already exist to prevent fire from harming people's health and safety," he added.
Crack down on offenders, says councillor
Donauer agrees and says the city should just crack down on those bylaws.
Fellow councillor Ann Iwanchuk plans to vote in favour of the time window.
"It will bring us in line with other cities," she said.
But she agreed with Donauer that existing penalties need to be further enforced and even increased.
Scared to speak out
After all, people like Buena Vista resident Lois Thorne — annoyed as they are by some of their neighbours' burning practices — are uncomfortable with playing party pooper to people on the other side of the backyard fence.
"If the onus is put on the person who has the problem to approach their neighbours and say, 'Hey, that bothers me, you need to put it out' — or the fire department has said, 'Well, phone us and we'll come and tell them to put it' — I'm not doing that to my neighbours," said Thorne.
Thorne says it doesn't take long before smoke causes her sinuses to burn, her eyes to sting and her lungs to hurt.
Still, she won't stir the pot.
"That's how people get some pretty serious animosities," she said. "So it's easier for me to go in the house and close my doors and windows."
The whole fire pit debate began when the local mother of an asthmatic boy raised concerns about the effects of secondhand smoke from wood-burning fires.
Monday's vote will take place some time after 1 p.m. at city hall.
CBC News did not hear back from councillor Mairin Loewen by early Sunday evening.
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