Due to anticipated high levels of air pollution, indoor and outdoor wood-burning will be prohibited Saturday in much of the South Coast Basin, the South Coast Air Quality Management District announced.
The mandatory No-Burn Alert will be in effect for everyone living in the basin, including Orange County and non-desert parts of Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
The alert does not apply to mountain communities above 3,000 feet in elevation, the Coachella Valley or High Desert, nor to low-income households and homes that rely on wood as a sole source of heat, according to the AQMD.
The order bans burning wood or manufactured fire logs not only in fireplaces but in any indoor or outdoor wood-burning device, the AQMD said. People can still use gas and other non-wood-burning fireplaces.
“No-burn alerts are mandatory in order to protect public health when levels of fine particulate air pollution in the region are forecast to be high,” according to the AQMD. “Smoke from wood burning can cause health problems.”
Particles in wood smoke, known as fine particulate matter — or PM 2.5 — can get deep into the lungs and cause respiratory problems, including asthma attacks.