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Mark Harrison / The Seattle Times
Donald Harmon, with his dog Daffodil, was fined $1000 for using a wood stove during a burn ban.
Penalties help those with respiratory problems
Editor, The Times:
I have little sympathy for the gentleman featured in the article [“Burn ban lands retiree in hot water,” page one, April 13] who received the $850 fine. He and others like him make life very unpleasant and unhealthy for those of us with respiratory problems.
I’m thankful that I’m not his neighbor because even when burning is not forbidden, smoke from wood-burning devices causes me to wheeze and cough. This is true even though my respiratory problems are not severe.
It is well-known that many respiratory diseases are caused and exacerbated by such environmental degradation as wood smoke. The article couches the problem abstractly in terms of rules, penalties, bureaucrats, etc. I feel that the article gave little attention to the reason for those rules, penalties and bureaucrats — living, breathing human beings.
— Kalman Brauner, Seattle