Where there's smoke there's Asthma!

Just prior to the arrival of winter, in the last moments of autumn, I found myself contemplating the change of season while standing on the 'flats' of kanamaluka / Tamar River.

The 'flats' as they are colloquially known are floodplains; an area of land where the water from high tides and significant periods of rain once spilled onto a flat area of land.

These same floodplains continue to flood even after the reclamation of the land for infrastructure, buildings, and sporting fields.

And although the drainage is much improved reducing the chance of flood, we continue the fight against nature.

I first visited this place in the 1980s when we agisted a horse close to the river.

You know it's late autumn when you are standing on the flats in the evening and the smells have changed.

The crisp aroma of summer grass and the constant winds have dyed out for now and there is an eerie stillness broken by floodlights.

When the lights go out so does the sense of calmness, replaced by a sinister atmosphere, which reinforces that I was once scared of the dark.

As the weather settles and the evenings become still, wood fires rage against the cold with the lack of effective breeze making the smoke move at a glacial pace and, when combined with the lowering fog, an environmental soup is the result.

Wood heaters or a fire pit at a campsite create an ambience that cannot be replaced by any object fired by electricity or gas.

There is a sense of relaxation that a fire fueled by wood encourages.

It is easy to imagine a hot fire with dry wood and the sounds that radiate, the cracking, the dislodging of strategically placed pieces as they burn, and being mindful of those nasty sparks that permanently damage puffer jackets.

It doesn't take much of a drive across Launceston to view the impact of wood heaters.

The majority burn efficiently yet when the wind has dropped and the evening is calm, the smoke struggles to dissipate.

And if you take a slightly longer commute, 'For Sale' signs atop neatly stacked trailers, trucks, and on yard fences highlighting our ongoing thirst for a source of warmth which remains relatively cheap.

For all the trendy and extremely expensive wood heaters on the market, there are plenty from far less privileged backgrounds who require their wood heater to ensure winter warmth with the price point competitive against other forms.

Additionally, there is an obvious visual of when you need to reduce use to save.

For the joy that wood heaters bring, asthmatics across the state monitor apps and weather patterns to remain safe.

The worst combination is cold night air and hovering wood smoke, made more harmful when training for sporting events when this potentially deadly combination is at its peak.

Throw in late autumn being the most effective time for fuel reduction burns and matters are made even worse.

In data sourced between 2015-2019, The Menzies Institute, "...found that over 10 years, biomass smoke was linked to an estimated 69 deaths, 86 hospital admissions, and 15 asthma Emergency Department visits in Tasmania each year, with over 74% of these cases attributed to wood heater smoke.

The study estimated that in Tasmania the average yearly health costs were $293 million for wood heater smoke. This translates into health costs equivalent to $4232 per wood heater each year across the state."

The Menzies Institute also found that, "Asthma is one of the primary reasons for hospital admissions in children and causes around 400 deaths in Australia each year. Tasmania has Australia's highest incidence of asthma, affecting 13.4 percent of our population".

In 2001, the City of Launceston launched a wood heater buyback scheme that remained in place until 2013. At that time, two out of every three residences in the municipality had a wood heater.

By 2004, the buyback scheme had reduced use by 30 per cent. The Federal Government seed funded the initiative, then continued by the council with $500 offered for each heater "handed in."

In the end the scheme failed due to lack of interest and I am confident, from anecdotal evidence, that wood heater use remains one of the most popular sources of warmth across our state.

I recently offered that it was little wonder Tasmania was the asthmatic capital of Australia.

The most common advice you are given by doctors and specialists is to move to Queensland.

And while that might sound like a wonderful idea, it is far from practical advice.

It is easy to understand why wood heaters remain so popular.

They are relatively cheap to run for those who must be cautious of every dollar, and they are also trendy additions to new designer homes.

Their impact is less accepted or acknowledged with the environment and those suffering with health conditions adversely affected by our need to wood fuel our warmth and comfort.

Following the cessation of the federal and council grants during 2013, it should be considered again.