Debate fires up across Saskatoon over backyard fire restrictions

A new restriction on when people can gather around wood-burning fire pits has people talking online.

On Tuesday, Saskatoon's city council voted to limit burning from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. CST. At the same time, a motion to phase out all wood-burning fire pits failed by a large margin.

This one has never been easy. There are strong feelings and passion on both sides.- Mayor Charlie Clark

Speaking to reporters, Mayor Charlie Clark called the vote a compromise position between fire-pit enthusiasts and those concerned about the health effects from smoke.

"This one has never been easy," he said. "There are strong feelings and passion on both sides. You just have to look at some of (the) social media on this or the emails that I've been getting."

Dozens of people flooded CBC Saskatoon's Facebook page with comments both for and against the restrictions. Here's a sample of what they had to say.

'This is outrageous'

In one post, Sara Mann wrote that the decision will likely derail a planned holiday day out.

"We planned on having a good old marshmallow roast and hot chocolate in our backyard after a family game of hockey on our sport court Boxing Day," she wrote. "Now I have to tell my little cousins who are between the ages of 3-13 that we can't because of this ridiculous bylaw."

Another commenter wrote that the new bylaw unfairly targeted his rights.

"This is outrageous," wrote Thomas Qiao. "People can do whatever they want on their private property as long as they don't disrupt the neighbours' sleep. Why do you try to dictate MY LIFE when there is no harm done?"

Yet another commenter wrote that the city should reorient its priorities.

"How about the neighbours whose cigars you can smell from houses away or the ones who don't shovel the sidewalks in front of their homes?" wrote Stephanie Sitkowski. "If there is an environmental law someone is breaking, deal with it on an individual basis. All this does is gets rid of the good (free!) family fun."

Suffer in silence

However, some people are applauding council's decision to limit fires. 

"Unfortunately, smoke is airborne; your smoke puts others in harm's way," wrote Barbara Nelson Peters. "Like all things airborne, you have no control over your smoke once it leaves your property line."

Others said it was important to protect people with breathing concerns.

"It's pretty weird to demand people with respiration issues not be able to go outside though, no?" wrote Dana Durell. "Why is the onus on them to prove they aren't able to breathe when people light fires?"

Meanwhile, others said they didn't feel comfortable bringing their concerns forward.

 "Most people don't complain," wrote Ellen Golla. "They suffer in silence because they are afraid of retaliation. There is no "good" way to burn wood in a fire pit if you live near other people."