Tire Fire in Northern California

This is a letter I sent out to my health mailing lists.


We've been having some lightening storms here and one Tuesday
night/Wednesday morning set off a fire in a tire dump in the Central Valley
near Tracy.  That's about 50 miles east of me.

The news last night was reported out of Oakland, which is where I live.
They made it clear that the smoke was reaching the East Bay (the land area
east of San Francisco, including Oakland).  Some areas around here have
been getting black rain...the soot falling down and coating cars, gardens,
everything.  I haven't been able to check but I don't think we got any of
that...at least not bad; my SO will check when he comes home tonight to see
if we got a mild drop.

Of course the media is reporting the party line, "no health dangers,"
"hasn't reached hazardous levels," etc.  Even though they go on to
contradict themselves.  They did say that the elderly and anyone with
respirtory problems, including asthma, should stay indoors.

The big problem? this fire is expected to burn for months.  Yes, months.
They say the worst will be the first couple of days but there is no way to
put it out, only keep it from spreading.

Last night I was hot and went to open the front door for air.  I smelled
the most horrible smell...like a huge old diaper pail.  I had to close the
door.  We heard about the fire on the news shortly after that.  My SO
smelled a mild smell early this morning.  When I went out for the mail
around noon I didn't smell anything and the skies were clear (still are at
3:30pm).  The wind must have shifted.

I had a migraine last night and through this morning.  I also felt pretty
awful in a non-descript way.  Some of that could have been from other
things but I'm sure the smoke made it worse.

I am concerned about what will happen if we get black rain.  What is in
that smoke? I know it's petrochemicals but not the specifics.  It will mean
I can't eat any of the fruit that's ripening now.  You can peel an apple
but how do you peel a fig or a blackberry?  And my soil will be
contaminated...as an organic gardener, that's very serious.  Petrochemicals
(including fertilzer) kill off earthworms and soil microbes.  How long
until I can walk barefoot in my lawn or eat what I grow?

The timing is awful too.  Tomorrow night is the beginning of Sukkot, a
holiday where you build "huts" (open air temporary structures) and take all
your meals (or as many as you can) outside for a week.  I don't even know
if I'll be able to go outside at all, even to drive to the doctor's.

Those of you in Northern California who might not know about the fire,
beware.  Be careful about going out and opening windows.

If anyone knows of a good website for getting updates on the fire, please
let me know.  I've checked all my weather sites to no avail.

Cyndi

------- End of forwarded message -------


_______________________________________________________________________________
Oakland, California            Zone 9 USDA; Zone 16 Sunset Western Garden Guide
Chemically sensitive/disabled - Organic Gardening only by choice and neccessity
_______________________________________________________________________________
"There's nothing wrong with me.  Maybe there's                     Cyndi Norman
something wrong with the universe." (ST:TNG)           cyndi@consultclarity.com
                                                 http://www.consultclarity.com/
_________________ Owner of the Immune Website & Lists http://www.immuneweb.org/
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