Spare the Air Alert Called for New Year's

Bay City News Service--Weather conditions forecast for Sunday are expected to create unhealthy air quality and have prompted officials to declare the 11th Spare the Air Day this winter season.

The Bay Area Air Quality Management District announced Saturday that wood burning, both indoors and outdoors, will be illegal all day New Year's Day. The alert bans the burning of wood, manufactured firelogs or any other solid fuel.

The ban will be in effect in for Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, southern Sonoma and southwestern Solano counties, district officials said.

During winter months, wood smoke is the leading cause of wintertime air pollution in the Bay Area, according to district officials.

 More information about the ban and on whether it is in effect can be found at www.sparetheair.org or by calling 877-4NO-BURN (466-2876).

Those wishing to receive automatic phone calls when a Winter Spare the Air alert is issued can register for the alerts by calling 800-430-1515.

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