Another Spare the Air Day Called for Friday

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 wood stoves 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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