Dear editor,
I love my woodstove, love going to the bush to get the wood, love stacking it, stoking the stove. I love sitting back with a beer, letting that beautiful heat soak through me on a wet winter day.
Then, a few years ago, I had a heart attack. Recovering next to the stove one stormy night, a worried friend said 鈥淭hat stove may have caused your heart attack.鈥�
This seemed crazy, but my friend鈥檚 not crazy, so I decided to check into it.
McGill University did a study in Courtenay, Prince George and Kamloops.
They discovered that in Courtenay 鈥渢he risk of heart attack among residents aged 65 and higher increased by 19 per cent鈥� because of smoke from wood stoves. Could that be me?
The BC Lung Association reports that the Comox Valley has 鈥渢he highest level of particulate matter鈥� in the Province because of wood stoves.
nother study rated Courtenay鈥檚 winter air as the worst in all of Canada.
That really got me thinking. What should I do? Move?
A while back, a neighbour came over, took me out into the yard and pointed to the smoke rising up from my chimney, spinning in a circle, and landing right on his house.
So, I replaced my old stove with an expensive, new one.
A month later I asked if it was better. He said 鈥渨ell鈥es, maybe a little better.鈥�
Then I cut back on how many days I burn. I made sure the wood was bone dry. That, my neighbour told me, really helped much more than the new stove. 鈥淚 can open a window on the days you don鈥檛 burn.鈥�
Now, my heart鈥檚 better, I still have a weekend fire, and my neighbour is happy.
Steve Schoenhoff,
Courtenay
