7 Woodpile Dangers That Can Put You in the Hospital (Number 4 Hides on the Bark)

Seven things in an ordinary American woodpile can put you in the hospital. Most take ten minutes and a flashlight to find. Number four rides in on the bark. Number two has a name most folks have never heard. And number one isn't in the pile at all. I'm Elias Mercer, fifth generation on this ridge. This is the walk-the-pile check my family has done every fall, with what today's health and fire agencies say about each one. UICK CHECKLIST - Anything green-cast, painted or stamped M-B goes to the dump, never in the stove or fire pit - Stack off the ground, in the sun, away from the house; burn seasoned wood under 20% moisture - Gloves and a stick before your hand goes in the bottom row - Any vine on firewood comes off and gets bagged. Never burn it - Dry wood only indoors, two days' worth at most - Wet down mouse droppings before you touch them. Never dry sweep - Ashes in a metal can with a metal lid, outside, 10 ft from anything that burns, for days. Carbon monoxide alarm outside sleeping areas and on every floor I'm not a doctor. A bite that turns dark, a rash that keeps spreading, or a cough that won't clear is a doctor visit. Some hazards depend on where you live, so check what grows and crawls in your own county. There's a book: fifty-plus years of what I know, over eighty chapters, at eliasmercer.com. Don't let the old days go, friend. #firewood #woodpile #homesteading