Confused about the Venting Index?
Friday, January 22, 2021 at 1:46PM Outdoor burning of yard waste is dependent upon the venting index. If venting is “YES - GOOD” then your smoke will rise far enough up in the atmosphere to mix and diffuse the toxic smoke particles. If the conditions are such that the smoke will not rise to the necessary mixing height to greatly reduce the respiratory health risks in our region, then the Venting Index will be “POOR - NO”.
Most people are following the rules and waiting for a Good Venting day to produce their smoke. Unfortunately for the rest of us some misguided people feel that the Ministry of Environment regulations don’t apply to them and they light their burn piles on Poor Venting days.
The TIVFD investigates all smoke complaints that go through 911. We are happy to do so because we know that smoke on a Poor-No Venting day might mean a bush fire. So we must respond. Fortunately, so far we have only had to educate or re-educate the burners on why they cannot light their yard waste on that particular day. Most people then extinguish their fire and wait for a day where the venting index is “GOOD - YES” and they are not putting our community’s respiratory health at risk. If they won’t comply (and we have had instances where the “entitled” person has stated they don’t care about other people’s lungs) the Fire Dept. will extinguish the fire for them.
You can access the Venting Index map at www.thetisislandfire.ca
The map is updated every morning by the MOE just after 7 a.m.
TIVFD
