News release
The South Coast Air Quality Management District announced that a mandatory wood-burning ban has been extended through Thursday.
The no-burn rule bans burning wood, pellets as well as manufactured fire logs in any indoor or outdoor wood-burning device, and bans burning charcoal except in cooking devices.
The temporary ban covers the South Coast Air Basin, which includes large areas of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, with the exception of the High Desert and the Coachella Valley. The ban applies to the Santa Clarita Valley.
No-burn day alerts do not apply to areas above 3,000 feet in elevation. Homes that rely on wood as a sole source of heat and those without natural gas service are exempt from the requirement.
Wood burning used as a sole source of heat is allowed during temporary electrical or natural gas service outages.
No-burn day alerts are mandatory in order to protect public health when levels of fine particle pollution or ozone are forecast to be high anywhere in the South Coast Air Basin, according to an AQMD news release. Particles in smoke can get deep into the lungs and cause health problems (including asthma attacks) and increases in emergency room visits and hospitalizations, the release said.
Information on South Coast AQMD’s Check Before You Burn program is available at www.aqmd.gov/cbyb.
