BELLA VISTA, Ark. (KFSM) — It's day 182 that Bella Vista neighbors say they continue to deal with the effects of the stump dump fire on Trafalgar Road.
Bella Vista resident Chris Nelson says he doesn't believe the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality's results add up to what people in the city are really experiencing.
"Over the weekend, when our monitors spiked to 789 in a couple locations basically we had the worst air quality in the world over here at the Harrington subdivision in Bella Vista," said Nelson.
Nelson has installed eight purple air monitors around areas of the smoldering fire including on in his backyard so he can tract the particulate count during any time of the day. He says he's seen numbers in the 700's, with 0-50 being in the healthy range.
"When one spikes and the others spike that`s when you know okay is there is some activity," said Nelson.
According to ADEQ and the ADH, there is no pollutant above healthy limits. The health department says the purple air monitors are different than the ones used by the EPA because purple air counts all particulates, not just the harmful ones.
The air monitors record particulate matter levels on a 24-hour cycle, and samples are collected every Monday and Thursday for assessment.
The last test was done Jan. 18 through Jan. 21 ad the data indicates the air quality was within the "Good" range.
Many living near Trafalgar don't agree.
"It's kind of archaic I mean you have to wait 24 hours for a canister to fill up and then that canister has to go off to a lab," said Nelson.
Steven Jones, a father of five who lives a few miles away from the fire, says his son's health has been on a decline, resulting in many hospital visits over the last several months.
"We are not sure exactly what's wrong with the lung but that they're saying that its underdeveloped and the smoke may be irritating that and now they're talking about removing part of the lung," said Jones
He says his other four are now starting to develop symptoms as well.
"They have been having fevers the last three or four days and they stay up all night coughing and runny nose and it's usually with the 5-year-old but with them, but it's a lot more frequent now with the 5-year-old," said Jones.
Nelson says he along with others in the community won't stop until the fire is out once and for all.
"The silver lining in this is when our city in what I feel has failed us the community has banded together and that`s biblical in my mind. Loving your neighbor and looking out for one another," said Nelson.
The Arkansas Forestry Commission were on-site today cutting a fire break around the perimeter. Other field activities planned include building access toads and a temporary low dam.
