Burn anything you see???

[oldmangunner]

I was camping this weekend and saw some people with a truck full of wood. They were burning pretty much anything. Some of the wood had been painted or treated and there was other junk to. I do not like burning treated or painted wood. What do you think?

[Grandpa]

In an indoor stove or fireplace, it's a deathtrap. Outside, you may survive a few times.

Bad Practice. I used to cut my own posts and treat with penta. It is bad stuff to get careless with.

[limbs]

Yeah, I mean are they cooking over that stuff? My worry would be that you might roast something over it and get the chemicals in the food and then eat it.

[oldsarge]

Some folks just don't know what they're doing. What's even worse is that all of us have to smell that garbage. As far as cooking goes...what a numb skull to eat anything cooked over that stuff. I feel bad for any kids exsposed to it also.

[Michael]

Burning treated wood is a terrible idea. The older stuff all has arsenic in it, and that rill rise out of the fire. You can breath it, and it can get on your food.

Newer treated wood is generally treated in stuff that's less toxic than arsenic, but still toxic.

Short answer: Don't do it.

[wvbreamfisherman]

I wouldn't worry too much about painted wood in a hot fire. Most of the stuff in it nowadays is pretty innocuous when burned. I wouldn't want to be around painted wood in a smoldering fire though. I've been a volunteer firefighter for 28 years, and smoldering paint can be very irritating to the lungs, nose and throat.

I'd be much more concerned about treated lumber- especially the CCA stuff. The newer stuff treated with borates is much less toxic.

Stuff like railroad ties treated with creosote or posts treated with penta would generate some potentially dangerous smoke, fume and vapor.

My $0.02