Another Spare the Air Day Called for Friday

By Bay City News Service
More air will be spared on Friday, as a series of "Winter Spare
the Air" alerts issued by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District
continues.
District officials announced today that wood burning will be
banned in the Bay Area on Friday for the fifth day in a row and the 20th day
this season.
Jack Broadbent, executive officer of the air district, thanked the
public for observing the restrictions and acknowledged that there have been a
lot of wood-burning bans lately.
"We continue to see stagnant, pollution-trapping weather
conditions and unhealthy levels of air pollution in the region, prompting
another Winter Spare the Air alert," he said.
On such days, residents are not allowed to burn wood, manufactured
fire logs or any other solid fuel indoors or outdoors, unless they live in a
home where woodstoves or fireplaces are the sole source of heat.
Those who violate the ban for the first time will have to pay $100
or take a wood-smoke awareness class; subsequent violations will be punished
with a fine of $500 or more.
The idea of Spare the Air days is to keep the air as clean as
possible on days when high levels of unhealthy particulate matter have
accumulated close to the ground.
Winter Spare the Air season runs from Nov. 1 through Feb. 28. Bay
Area residents can check the daily burn status by calling (877) 4-NO-BURN or
visiting the district's website at www.sparetheair.org.

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