A ban on burning wood or any solid fuel in the Bay Area has been extended through Tuesday due to wood smoke pollution across the region, air district officials said.
A Spare the Air Alert issued on Monday was extended another day due to weather conditions that continue to trap smoke at ground level, according to the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.
It is illegal to burn wood or manufactured fire logs in fireplaces, woodstoves and inserts, pellet stoves, outdoor fire pits, or any other wood-burning devices during a Spare the Air Alert for fine particle pollution.
Cold overnight temperatures, dense fog and limited vertical mixing allow wood smoke to hover at ground level, leading to unhealthy air quality, air district officials said.
“Wood burning has immediate and long-term health impacts, harming those most vulnerable,” said Sharon Landers, interim executive officer of the air district.
Exemptions are available for homes where wood stoves or fireplaces are the only source of heat. Anyone whose sole source of heat is a wood-burning device must use an EPA-certified or pellet-fueled device that is registered with the air district to qualify for an exemption. An open-hearth fireplace no longer qualifies for an exemption.
Wood smoke contains carcinogenic substances, such as particulate matter and carbon monoxide that are harmful when inhaled, air district officials said.
Exposure to wood smoke has been linked to serious respiratory illnesses and increased risk of heart attacks.
The fine particulate pollution in wood smoke is especially harmful for children, the elderly and those with respiratory conditions, according to the air district.
11 comments
If anyone is interested in the truth, the current AQI around the Bay Area according to Airnow.gov is 58! However when you switch to forcast it is 98! The difference between a forcast and actual measurement.
Also remember that 80-90% of winter time PM. 2.5 comes from sources OTHER than people heating their homes with wood!
Don’t let facts ruin the BAAQMD’s “story.”
if memory serves me, the correct response is “bite me”
Or SMD.
I see nothing here against burning trash or old shoes. I think that means it’s okay.
More garbage from California.
Bwahahahaha!!!!!
I’m burning in my fireplace right now. Too damn cold to listen to these nazi losers.
If they’ve got a problem with that, they’ve got a problem with themselves. Go F yourself, whatever your abbreviations are!
If you can burn Weed, I will burn Wood.
Burn baby burn!
In fact burning right now!
“And increased risk of heart attacks..” Indeed, climate change, from wood burning, within the last 2-3 years will cause that one.
…extended through Tuesday due to wood smoke pollution across the region… Yesterday was a STA day, so how can we have wood smoke pollution across the region.
“Wood smoke contains carcinogenic substances, such as particulate matter and carbon monoxide that are harmful when inhaled” What about diesel trucks, lawn mowers, airplanes, tanker ships, refineries? Just wood smoke is harmful? I love the comment about “most vulnerable”, always gets you more funding. Please disband BAAQMD.
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