No-Burn Alert For Los Angeles County

LOS ANGELES, CA — It was a no-burn day on Monday, the South coast Air Quality Management District announced.

The alert was scheduled until Tuesday morning for all who live in the South Coast Air Basin due to a forecast for high levels of fine particulate air pollution.

Residents living in Orange County and non-desert portions of Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties are prohibited from burning wood in their fireplaces or any indoor or outdoor wood-burning device, including burning manufactured fire logs. Gas and other fireplaces that do not burn wood are not affected.

"Smoke from wood burning can cause health problems," the AQMD said in its written alert. "Particles in wood smoke, also known as fine particulate matter or PM2.5, can get deep into the lungs and cause respiratory problems (including asthma attacks), increases in emergency room visits and hospitalizations."

The no-burn day alert does not apply to mountain communities above 3,000 feet in elevation, the Coachella Valley or the High Desert, the AQMD said. It also does not apply to homes that rely on wood as the sole source of heat, low-income households and those without natural gas service.

The AQMD's Check Before You Burn program runs from November through the end of February when particulate levels are highest, the agency said. So far, 15 no-burn day alerts have been issued this season.

More information is available at www.aqmd.gov.