Indeed… I have also experienced the smoke cloud from the wildfire in the Hohe Venn nature reserve in Belgium and I was more than 150km away. It covered Rhineland-Palatine and the Saarland. We had to keep the windows closed during the night, the only time we would have been able to cool down the attic where we’ve slept during our stay. (38°C outside during the day)
You can see it clearly in the partical PM10 measurements.
Heh, things change. I recall sitting in grade school, staring absent-mindedly out the window at the 55-gallon drum they used to burn trash, bit of a fire going. All of a sudden , KA-WHOOMP!, the already-rust-inflicted bottom of the drum blew out and the top part fell into the rust/ash pile. A teacher had discarded a spray paint can, and didn’t think through where it’d end up…
Nowadays, here in Colorado ginning up an open fire in town will get you drawn and quartered by the adjacent residents. We just spent two weeks at cabin-in-the-woods, a state park rental, and all the fire pits at the cabins and campground were cordoned off.
Well, damn.
My neighbor burns pine needles periodically, just next door in his back yard. But he’s responsible about it and manages the burn carefully. I have no problem nor second thoughts with that. Technically we’re a couple of streets outside the city limit, but no one complains.
It’s a shame the lack of responsibility on the part of some (and intolerance for personal responsibility, choice and accountability on the part of others) has resulted in overbearing legal situations.
I remember the warm, woody smell of dead leaves burning was always a pleasant part of the overall autumn experience, as a kid.
It’s been dessicatingly dry here, of late. We’ve got some monsoon moisture, but the local governments have been reticent to relax restrictions.
I think it still emits a lot of PM2.5, which is impossible to prevent in a household setting. Burning a few sacks of organic matter can drive PM levels from “ok” to “unsafe” in a neighborhood very quickly when the wind is not blowing.
Yes, people have done this for ages. But the health effects of PM were not known in those days.
Sarcasm certainly can be just as dangerous as doing nothing, yes.
Burning is definitely illegal here. I once called the fire department, but they simply could not communicate with the lady and certainly did not charge her. Now she does everything fast and semi-covertly.
The neighbour (the wife) comes from rural China and so drawing water, burning stuff near the creek and whatever she does is similar to the fake Chinese rural influencer videos where the influencer is some rich person posing as someone who is poor and humble. Actually, our neighbour is much richer than us as well, but old habits are hard to break I guess.
Burning is not always bad, it just has to be done sensibly, such as low wind, high moisture, etc. Of course most people do not need it at all, but it can be beneficial for people in specific climates with certain plants.
I think it’s worse when the wind is blowing no? As without wind the warm air of the fire quickly rises above the building level and disperses.
We are under an outdoor burning ban here, too, but it will be lifted after the drought conditions change. I expect some rain any month, now. 
My first day of work today!
A major storm today. In fact, it was lightning and fog all night, then super downpour all day with apparently hail in some areas. Now, there is a warning that they may be baseball sized in some regions. It was interesting how local the storm clouds are: one second with no visibility, then the next with only drizzle or not so heavy rain. Various parts of the road and highway are flooding.
Long drive to and from work. Returned safely.
