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SCAQMD Air Alerts

NO-BURN ALERT:  MANDATORY WOOD-BURNING BAN IN EFFECT TODAY FOR RESIDENTS OF THE SOUTH COAST AIR BASIN

All Indoor and Outdoor Residential Wood Burning Prohibited Due to High Air Pollution Predicted for Today, Saturday January 3

The South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) has issued a residential no-burn alert effective Saturday, January 3, 2015, for all those living in the South Coast Air Basin, which includes the greater Los Angeles area, Orange County and the Inland Empire.  SCAQMD reminds residents in these areas that burning wood in their fireplaces is prohibited from midnight tonight through midnight on Saturday night.  No-burn alerts are mandatory in order to protect public health due to a high concentration of fine particle air pollution forecast for the area.  The no-burn prohibition also applies to manufactured fire logs, such as those made from wax or paper.

Fine particles in wood smoke – also known as particulate matter or PM2.5 – can get deep into the lungs and cause respiratory illnesses, increases in emergency room visits and hospitalizations.

South Coast Basin residents can help reduce the harmful health effects of wood smoke by checking for no-burn alerts using one of the following options before burning wood:

SCAQMD’s no-burn alerts do not apply to mountain communities above 3,000 feet in elevation, the Coachella Valley, or the High Desert.  Homes that rely on wood as a sole source of heat, low-income households and those without natural gas service also are exempt from the requirement.

SCAQMD’s ‘Check Before You Burn’ program starts each year on November 1 and runs through the last day of February.  Gas and other non-wood burning fireplaces are not restricted.  For further information on the ‘Check Before You Burn’ program and alternatives to wood burning, including the gas fireplace incentive program, visit www.healthyhearths.org.

SCAQMD is the air pollution control agency for Orange County and major portions of Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties.

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author avatar
Art Pedroza Editor
Our Editor, Art Pedroza, worked at the O.C. Register and the OC Weekly and studied journalism at CSUF and UCI. He has lived in Santa Ana for over 30 years and has served on several city and county commissions. When he is not writing or editing Pedroza specializes in risk control and occupational safety. He also teaches part time at Cerritos College and CSUF. Pedroza has an MBA from Keller University.

By Art Pedroza

Our Editor, Art Pedroza, worked at the O.C. Register and the OC Weekly and studied journalism at CSUF and UCI. He has lived in Santa Ana for over 30 years and has served on several city and county commissions. When he is not writing or editing Pedroza specializes in risk control and occupational safety. He also teaches part time at Cerritos College and CSUF. Pedroza has an MBA from Keller University.

8 thoughts on “Mandatory wood-burning ban in effect today for residents of the South Coast Air Basin”
      1. That means that perhaps I may have enjoyed a nice warm crackling fire this morning. The f**king idiot killjoys at the scaqmd – it was clear as a bell this morning – no inversion layer.

    1. The SCAQMD encourages people to rat out their fellow citizens … The f**king bastard communists.

      1. Yeah well most AMERICANS would have turned in Father Hollywood for RAPING those young boys.

        But the Tardif Family says: “It’s OK, were Catholic, let’s look the other way”

        How can you represent an organization (Mater Dei), that promoted child rape?

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