Zigi Gadomski used to install fireplaces and wood stoves for a living. Now, the Port Coquitlam resident gets ticked off when he gets a whiff of the woodsy aroma of chimney smoke.

“Smoke is no good for you. It’s dangerous for your health,” says Gadomski, president of Wood Energy Technicians of British Columbia.

Gadomski’s strong views are ironic considering that his organization is the body that certifies all the chimney sweeps, inspectors, and other professionals working with wood-burning appliances in the province.

Gadomski isn’t against burning wood in general—just burning it the wrong way. If you can smell or see smoke from your chimney, he says, you’re doing something wrong. He believes so passionately about the evils of wood smoke that he voluntarily gives workshops as part of a provincial awareness program teaching British Columbians how to burn wood in a safer manner with less pollution.

Sometimes more than 100 people have come out; sometimes, not a soul. But Gadomski soldiers on, leading over 100 “Burn It Smart” workshops in the past six years.

“People aren’t thinking about themselves or their families, let alone their neighbours,” he says. “If you’re going to burn wood, don’t burn wet wood, and don’t smoulder it. Burn it in a clean stove, and you’ll produce less particulates than if you burn it like an idiot.”

Wood smoke contains more than 100 dangerous pollutants, including carcinogens, carbon monoxide, and toxic fine particles that can cause respiratory problems and allergies. A conventional wood stove emits as much fine-particle pollution in nine hours as a midsize car in an entire year, according to Environment Canada.

Fireplaces are even worse. They release six times more fine particles than conventional stoves.

Industry and cars are still the biggest contributors to global warming, but a growing problem across B.C.—especially in much of the interior—is air pollution from wood smoke.

Pollution from all sources causes an estimated 5,900 premature deaths in eight of Canada’s largest cities each year, according to Environment Canada’s Web site. It’s not clear how many of those are related to wood smoke, but a 2005 European Union study found fine particles cause 80 percent of the 370,000 premature deaths related to pollution in Europe each year.

Residential wood burning is now the largest source of human-made fine-particle pollution in B.C. and is one of the biggest contributors of other toxic emissions like volatile organic compounds, according to Environment Canada.

The use of wood stoves in B.C. is growing as homeowners switch from costly natural gas. Wood smoke is the largest single factor behind the emergence of winter smog in many Canadian cities.

In 1994, B.C. became the first—and only—province to ban the sale of older, high-polluting wood stoves and fireplaces. Gadomski calls them “old belchers” and counsels workshop participants to switch to a high-efficiency model certified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that emits up to 90 percent less
emissions and uses 30 percent less wood.

Yet, 14 years later, about two-thirds of the wood-burning appliances in the province are still the older variety, largely because of their long lifespan—they usually work for decades—and the high cost of the newer models: $1,500 to $3,000 or up to $5,000 for an ultra-efficient pellet stove, which is even less polluting.

Ironically, some of the worst-hit areas of the country are in the pristine, remote B.C. interior, where steep mountains can trap thick smog over villages nestled in the valleys below. In 2006, the ski-resort town of Golden banned the installation of new wood stoves after recording some of the worst pollution in the province. In the logging town of Houston, an even harsher bylaw requires all noncertified wood stoves to be dismantled by 2010.

“We have some real poor-quality days,” says Houston fire chief Ken Thomson. “You can definitely see it [the smoke] and smell it. People with respiratory problems don’t even want to venture outside.”

Houston offers residents a $300 one-off subsidy for switching to a high-efficiency appliance, which can be combined with another $250 one-off provincial subsidy available to five local communities through the Bulkley Valley and Lakes District Airshed Management Society (www.cleanairplan.ca/).

Gadomski is now working with the province on an expansion of that pilot project across B.C. A new provincewide program in March aims to take 50,000 older-style wood stoves out of circulation—or 40 percent of the total 120,000 uncertified stoves in the province.

But with a budget of just $1 million for switchover rebates and awareness campaigns-$20 for each of the 50,000 stoves—that’s probably a pipe dream unless municipalities and other groups kick in the bulk of the cost, Gadomski says. “A lot of people don’t care, but the fact is what comes out of your chimney is my problem.”