Air District Asks Residents to Refrain From Burning Wood

The Bay Area Air Quality Management District is asking Bay Area residents to refrain from burning wood Tuesday.

While district officials have not issued a Spare the Air alert, they are asking residents to voluntarily refrain from wood burning.

"If we can reduce levels of wood smoke pollution now, we can potentially avoid unhealthy air quality and having to call a 'Winter Spare the Air Alert' in the next several days," said Eric Stevenson, director of technical services for the district.

District officials said the forecast for the next several days indicates that the region may experience stagnant weather that traps wood smoke near the ground, causing unhealthy breathing conditions.

The Winter Spare the Air season is from Nov. 1 through Feb. 29.

Residents can check the daily burn status at www.baaqmd.gov or www.sparetheair.org or by calling (877) 4-NO-BURN.

—By Bay City News Service