Resources & evidence

Make a record someone else can follow.

A short, dated account with the original files is more useful than a sweeping claim. Keep your complete evidence privately. Use the site’s public fields for a short, publishable summary and its private fields for the requested verification details.

During an event

Prioritize safety. Do not enter smoke, approach a fire, confront people, trespass, or remain in an unsafe space to collect evidence. Call 911 for an emergency.
Record the date, time, and time zone. Note when the event started and stopped if known. Use Saint Paul local time and include the date; distinguish the event time from the later time you wrote the note.
Describe your own observations. Example: “At 9:15 p.m. I smelled smoke in the second-floor hallway near the elevator.” State where you were, what you saw or smelled, and what you did next. Label information from another person as secondhand.
Keep context with each reading. Save the device model, PM units, averaging interval, sensor position, windows/doors, purifier speed, HVAC/fan setting, and recent cooking, candles, cleaning, or other possible influences. Keep before/during/after readings where available.
Save original files. Keep the unedited photo, screenshot, video, device export, and email with its timestamp. Record any known clock error. If you crop or redact a public copy, retain the original separately and describe the change.

For repeat measurements, follow the manufacturer's placement and warm-up guidance and use the same location when possible. Avoid placing a sensor directly in a purifier's exhaust or an obvious local plume unless that is the question being measured; label such readings clearly. Side-by-side comparison can reveal disagreement between devices but does not make either a regulatory instrument. EPA's air-sensor guidebook.

Build one incident folder

Use a simple label such as 2026-10-21-evening-smoke. Inside, keep a brief chronology, original readings, photos, management correspondence, agency confirmations, and follow-up. Preserve full email headers or export the message when possible. Keep a second private backup. Store health records separately; public posting is not needed to preserve them.

When contacting an agency or management

Identify the property as Waterford Bay, 380 Randolph Avenue, Saint Paul, MN 55102, then give the relevant indoor location privately.
Explain the observed condition and the action you are requesting, such as an inspection, response during an active event, or a written explanation of next steps.
Ask for the agency's case/reference number, the office handling it, the next step, and a way to check progress.
Save your sent message, submission confirmation, attachments, and any response. After a call, write a dated summary and distinguish your recollection from a recording or written reply.
Update the existing tracker entry when a response arrives. Keep the date and substance of each update. “Submitted,” “acknowledged,” “inspection scheduled,” “agency response received,” and “resolved” describe different stages.

Posting on this site does not file a complaint with an agency, notify management, or satisfy a lease or court notice requirement. Use the contact directory to report directly and the tenant-rights guide to understand the separate legal processes.

What stays private on this site

Your required private name and unit number are available to authorized site administrators and moderators and are never published by the site. If you turn off anonymous display, the public byline uses the separate display name you choose; it does not use your private name field. Uploaded screenshots remain private for moderator review and are never served publicly, including after a submission is approved.

Keep identifying details out of every public field. Moderation is a review step, not a guarantee that a story cannot identify someone. Your choice here does not control what a separate agency, review platform, reporter, or court may disclose.

Prepare a safe copy when sharing evidence elsewhere

If you choose to share a document separately with an agency, attorney, reporter, or other recipient, consider which details that recipient needs. The guidance below is for preparing a shareable copy; this site does not publish your uploaded screenshots.

Remove unit numbers, personal phone numbers, email addresses, signatures, access codes, identifying filenames, bystander faces, and unrelated conversations from public material. Check screenshots for account names, notifications, and location details. A case number can also lead to identifying public records; publish it only if you understand that possibility.

Use broad location labels such as “inside apartment,” “hallway,” or “garage.” Do not enter a unit number in a public title, narrative, filename, or location field. Keep sensitive details in the designated private fields. An anonymous display choice hides the public name; distinctive details in the story could still identify someone.

Evidence labels used on this site

Resident report: a person's account, with its stated date and basis.
Consumer reading: a device observation, with model and measurement context when supplied.
Document reviewed: a moderator has examined the underlying record; the summary should identify its date and scope. This does not independently prove every claim inside the document.
Agency finding: a conclusion in an identifiable official document, described without expanding it beyond what the agency actually said.

Moderators should correct or remove identifying details, request support for contested claims, and preserve a dated correction when a material public statement changes. A resident-supplied transcription of management's smoke-entry email is summarized on the Facts page. Verify the original email's date, sender's role, full context, and permission to publish a redacted copy before upgrading that material to an authenticated document.

A useful incident note

Event date/time and time zone: [date/time]. Location category: [broad location]. I personally observed: [specific facts]. Device/model and averaging interval: [details]. PM1 / PM2.5 / PM10: [values in µg/m³, or not available]. Optional device AQI and index: [details]. Purifier/fan/windows/doors: [settings]. Other possible influences: [details or unknown]. Reported to: [agency/management] on [date]. Reference number: [private unless I choose to publish]. Response received: [dated factual summary]. Original files retained: [list].

Reviewed October 21, 2026. This documentation guide does not determine admissibility in court or replace advice from an attorney.

Corrections and updates

Use Manage a submission with your saved receipt to correct or withdraw your own record. For page corrections, privacy concerns about a record, or resident organizing, email the site organizer at adamheskin@gmail.com.