For Some, The Burning Season Does Not End

On September 10, 1996 when Diana picked up her ten year old son, Derek, from school, she knew from one glance that he was in trouble. Derek fell into the car sobbing and gasping for air, a victim of grass smoke which had been carried into his school. Diana knew, from past experience with grass burning over the last 10 years, that Derek wouldn't be going back to school for a long time.

While his classmates spent their days in school making friends and learning, Derek's life was filled with hospital visits and needles. For a month and a half he was confined to his home enduring the pain of an I.V. catheter which delivered the powerful drugs needed to keep him alive. As his mother held hot packs to his arm in an effort to relieve the pain, she tried to explain to her son why grass growers are allowed to do this to him.

Long after the burn season ended for most of us, Derek was still fighting a serious infection in his lungs.

In his own words....

On October 5, 1997, Derek wrote a letter to the editor which appeared in the Spokesman Review. He said: I am almost 11 years old, and I was born with cystic fibrosis and asthma.

Because of the grass burning, there are many things I can't do. I can't go outside during recess, if I make it to school. I can't play outside with my friends. I can't go outside to play with my dogs and cat. I can't ride my new bike. I can't play in my tree house with my friends. I can't play basketball. I can't say no to the IV's, blood draws and all the medicines. I can't be a kid.

When the Department of Ecology announced the grass burning ban in 1998, Derek told a TV reporter: "I feel like I won the lotto," He and his family were not yet aware that wheat growers had begun to burn their fields and that the burn season lasts from the end of July through the end of October.

In June and most of July, surrounded by clean air, Derek was healthy. Then the burning began. He became ill. By early August his life was filled with doctor visits, high doses of cortisone, sinus irrigations and powerful antibiotics. These treatments were not successful. By October he was in the hospital on IV's. Derek finally began to recover in early November - when the burning was over.

Cystic Fibrosis   Derek was born with cystic fibrosis (CF), a genetic disease affecting one in every 1600 babies born. Like many children with CF, Derek also has asthma and his lungs are very vulnerable to damage from smoke particulates. Each year, when the fields burn, Derek's life and future are at risk. Tremendous advances in the treatment of CF have been made in the last few years and a cure is on the horizon. However, every time Derek gets sick, the damage to his lungs is permanent and irreversible. About 150 children with CF live in the Spokane - Coeur d'Alene area.