Santa Clara County Air Quality Alert Issued

SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CA -- The first winter Spare the Air Alert in the San Francisco Bay Area has been issued for Dec. 19, officials with the Bay Area Air Quality Management District say.

Wood burning both indoors and outdoors is banned for 24 hours for Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, Napa, southern Sonoma and southwestern Solano counties because air is forecast to be unhealthy.

Smoke from wood burning is especially harmful to children and older residents and is linked to diseases such as asthma, bronchitis and lung disease, according to air district officials.

Air pollution in the winter is caused mainly by soot from wood smoke, air district officials said.

It is illegal for residents to burn solid fuels such as wood in outdoor fire pits, fireplaces, wood stoves and inserts, pellet stoves and other devices.

An exception is made for residents whose only source of heat is a wood-burning device, but that device must be government certified and a pellet-fueled device that has been registered with the air district.

Open-hearth fireplaces no longer qualify for an exemption, according to the air district.

For more information about the Spare the Air Alert rules, residents can visit sparetheair.org or call (877) 4NO-BURN (466-2876).

Bay City News contributed to this report/Image via Spare the Air