To the Editor:
I just read this person’s letter about the burning going on behind the Palm Cay community. I am one of those houses where they literally were burning right smack behind me. It looked like it was not even a hundred feet from the house, burning nonstop for two months straight.
First, they burned off of 103rd Street. Then they burned right behind Palm Cay where they knocked down all the woods right on top of people’s homes. Now they’re burning a little further down on top of more people’s homes, and the wind is blowing the smoke into the house. It is so bad that I’ve got three air purifiers on and it’s still not helping. My eyes are continuously burning.
I have called the Marion County fire department, Division of Forestry, Environmental Protection Agency (it’s an answering machine), code enforcement, civil engineers, you name it. All I have gotten was nasty responses that they’re entitled to do what they want because it’s their land. It’s a right-to-burn state, and they could pretty much burn right on top of your home.
The developers could have had the stuff removed, taken off somewhere to be burned away from homes, but they don’t want to spend the money. The burning is still going on. My eyes burn every night from the wind blowing this way, coming into the home. When the burning was right behind my home, I literally had to leave the area for almost 10 days. I was getting sick.
The county, or whomever, gets paid for this to go on. It’s a day-to-day permit to burn as I was told. The builder doesn’t want to spend the money to remove the debris as I was also told. They don’t live here and breathe this crap in. They’re living comfortably in their homes.
This is not a wildfire that’s out of control (inevitable). This is not a controlled burn that the fire department does for a few days. It’s absolutely disgusting that the burning has been going on since July.
I tried to get some of the neighbors involved. They said there’s probably nothing they can do. It’s a shame. If you’re not a big politician, a big billionaire developer, or a big personality, you are the bottom of a freaking shoe. This will probably go on another few weeks. It is awful.
To the person who is struggling, I agree. I live here as well. It’s a shame and nobody seems to care.
Kareena Hartel
Ocala resident