something stinks around here...

[krash]

Where is that smell coming from?

I live in Amelia, and that burning odor is really getting obnoxious!

Its been over a week, and it stinks every night. I know we are surrounded by farms in this part of TV, but I thought there was a burning ban due to the drought.

I don't know if its wood, leaves, or garbage. There is no tell-tale smoke, just the stench.

Any suggestions as to who I can complain to?

[Cassie325]

I have asked similar questions in the past...and what I have been told is that the burning could be just about anywhere....miles away in fact....just drifts in the wind.

So...I guess you could complain to just about anyone you want to...but I don't think there is anything that anyone can do.

I guess we just hope it leaves soon....

[krash]

Thanks Cassie for the quick reply... but it doesn't seem to be as pungent in the surrounding villages such as Mallory and Hadley. It seems as you travel down Odell and as you approach Corbett, that's when it REALLY hits you.

[Cassie325]

Well it may be worth giving a call to Community Watch....first because they are under Public Safety and Chief Tucker....and they may already know what the smell is from....if not it may be worth it to them to check it out.

I know that we have friends less than a mile away from us....they can smell smoke sometimes and we smell nothing....and vice versa!

[GatbTester]

The odor is from all the money the developer has buried so it is tax free!

[joannej]

Perhaps it is from the fires the fireman were fighting around the Ocala forest??

[krash]

No, I don't think its from that far away, as the smell doesn't seem to be all over the TV, but just in Amelia. Where I live, off Odell and Corbett, backs up to acres of trees and horse farms. That's why I think its one of the local farmers burning - under the cloak of darkness at night, so they can't be found:cus:

[KathieI]

Krash, I smell it all the time. I back up to the Colony Plaza and I'm always complaining about it. I was thinking I was crazy (crazier?) cause no one smelled it but me. I once started to evacuate thinking I was back in SoCalif.....

[graciegirl]

Well first off the good news, if you have a good sense of smell you may not develop Alzheimers, however, if you had your nose "done", that doesn't count. Not joking about this. I did read that.

Both of you, Krash and Kathie) are near the perimeters of TV and near..er to the OP (other people) It might well be burning of brush on purpose which is OH so dangerous in this dry time. I would report it.

[KathieI]

Is that true, Gracie, about the Alzheimer's and sense of smell?? Cool!! Although sometimes I wonder about me. ;)

Do you think its worse in Lower Hadley, as you haven't complained about it in Upper Hadley like I have. Hmmmmm. You might be right about it being OP's burning of brush. That's what it smells like to me.

[gemorc]

There have been news reports, sadly very little in the Daily Sun, about forest and field fires in southern Sumter and northern Polk counties. You could really see the smoke from Mallory Hill Golf Course on Wednesday

Some people have a different sense of smell than others. I cannot sense the smell of fire as well as I can smell aromas of perfume and spices.

[BobKat1]

There have been news reports, sadly very little in the Daily Sun, about forest and field fires in southern Sumter and northern Polk counties. You could really see the smoke from Mallory Hill Golf Course on Wednesday

Some people have a different sense of smell than others. I cannot sense the smell of fire as well as I can smell aromas of perfume and spices.

You'd think that a brief article in the Sun and a few mentions on the radio, would answer a lot of the questions.

[English Ivy]

It may also be from the construction debris dump/landfill on the south side of 466A across from Colony Plaza. Depending on which way the wind is blowing that could certainly affect Hadley and Amelia. Several times when I've been at Colony you can see and smell the smoke coming from there.

[eremite06]

Decomposition of garbage causes heat. Landfills will spontaneously ignite at times. Been to many garbage fires in 30 years in the fire service.

[senior citizen]

Is that true, Gracie, about the Alzheimer's and sense of smell?? Cool!! Although sometimes I wonder about me. ;)

Do you think its worse in Lower Hadley, as you haven't complained about it in Upper Hadley like I have. Hmmmmm. You might be right about it being OP's burning of brush. That's what it smells like to me.


Gracie's mention to you with regard to the lack of sense of smell and a connection to Alzehimers is true. At least in the case of my own mom.

I have also read the information that Gracie is no doubt referring to.
Some say it is from a lack of zinc, however, I am no expert on that.

In her 50's my mother began mentioning that she had lost her sense of smell.
Her concern was that she could not smell a gas leak. I can chuckle now as she didn't even have gas; just oil heat but was probably thinking back to her childhood.

This persisted into her 60's; when she retired up here in Vermont to be closer to us, she would frequently ask me if I could smell a certain odor and that she could not smell anything at all. I didn't really pay much attention to her comments at the time.........as it didn't seem very serious and I was in the process of raising two small children, etc.

It wasn't until approximately 1994, with her having no sense of smell for a good 25 years by now..........and her diagnosis of Alzehimers, that I began reading all I could find on the subject.

A recurrent theme was that in "some" not all cases, the patients had no sense of smell. It can cause worry to the person not being able to smell smoke or a gas leak.

I'm blessed that I can still smell the roses. Just food for thought. Who would think that such a simple "symptom" might be related to Alzheimers down the road.

I am not a medical professional; just my personal experience with my mom who had to come and live with us in our home until the very end when I was no longer able to bathe her and she lost her mobility in end stage Alzheimers.

With mom's day just yesterday, we visited her grave to plant two mini rose bushes..........I wish we had her back. We both recalled her lack of being able to smell........flowers, food, you name it.

She passed at age 91.......but seemed to lose her sense of smell in her 50's.
Again, this does not mean everyone who cannot smell will get Alzheimers; they also say aluminum ingestion might be a culprit. Some over the counter things like Kaopectate and Immodium A.D. have aluminum....or cooking in aluminum pots.

For anyone dealing with Alzheimers right now, great patience is needed.
It is indeed the "long goodbye" .........but most rewarding after the fact.
Any one of us can end up in that boat. Her doctors told me that her lungs, her heart , her bones were in excellent shape.........she had been an avid walker her entire life, petite, thin, .........it just happens. Alzheimers can strike anyone. But, in hindsight, she had that loss of smell for a long long time prior to the diagnosis.

Re the burning odor..........as another person mentioned, garbage or even leaves and compost can give off methane gas and I've been told that can also ignite into a fire.

Perhaps a farmer was burning off his fields? Up in Nova Scotia, we'd drive by numerous fields at this time of year when they were burning them.

Hopefully, your odor is gone by now.