Another Spare-The-Air Alert Issued For Saturday; Wood Burning Banned
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- The Bay Area will start the last weekend of the year with another Spare The Air Day alert issued, and another ban on wood burning for Saturday.
The Bay Area Air Quality Management District issued the sixth alert in a row Friday due to stagnant weather, and poor air quality.
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
