A Winter Spare the Air Alert has been issued for Wednesday, December 14, 2011

This announcement just came in from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, and since it not only announces that Wednesday is a “Spare the Air” day, it also gives a great deal of information about our air quality. We hope you find it helpful. Thank you to everyone who is working to improve the quality of life for all.

Wood burning is banned both indoors and outdoors for the full 24 hours.

 

Air quality in the Bay Area is forecast to be unhealthy. It is illegal for Bay Area residents to burn wood or other solid fuels in fireplaces, wood stoves and inserts, pellet stoves, outdoor fire-pits, or other wood-burning devices.  This wood-burning ban will be in effect for Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, southern Sonoma and southwestern Solano Counties. Regarding exemptions, you are exempt from the burn ban if wood-burning is your only source of space heat for a residence or commercial building.

 

Winter air pollution is mainly caused by particulates or soot pollution from wood smoke. Smoke from wood-burning fires is linked to illnesses such as asthma, bronchitis and lung disease, and is especially harmful for children and the elderly.

 

For more information about the Wood Burning Rule, or to check before you burn, visit http://www.sparetheair.org/ or call 1-877-4NO-BURN.  

 

You can also call 1-800-430-1515 and register to receive automatic phone calls when a Winter Spare the Air Alert has been called.

 

To see the current air quality forecast visit http://www.sparetheair.org/.

 

Visit the Apple App Store to download our FREE Spare the Air iPhone application for alert notifications, local air quality forecasts, podcasts and several tools to help reduce air pollution!

 

Thank you for doing your part to Spare the Air!

 

This AirAlert is provided by your Bay Area Air Quality Management District.

 

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