The South Coast Air Quality Management District’s ninth annual “Check Before You Burn” season begins Sunday, during which Southland residents are asked to check if it’s a mandatory “no-burn” day prior to burning wood in their fireplaces, stoves or outdoor fire pits.
The program — which runs through Feb. 28 — bans burning of firewood in residential fireplaces, stoves or outdoor fire pits on ”no burn” days when unhealthy air quality is forecast.
The “no-burn” day alerts do not apply to mountain communities above 3,000 feet in elevation, the Coachella Valley or High Desert, homes that rely on wood as a sole source of heat, low-income households and those without natural gas service. Gas and other non-wood burning fireplaces are also exempt.
The air pollution control agency’s executive officer, Wayne Nastri, noted that smoke from residential fireplaces is a “significant source” of harmful fine particulate matter and that residents can “do their part to improve air quality by spreading awareness and choosing not to burn wood when no-burn days are called.”
The AQMD — which is the air pollution control agency for Orange County and major portions of Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties including the Coachella Valley — listed the following ways to learn about “no burn” days:
— signing up for AQMD Air Alerts on air quality and notification when mandatory “no-burn” days are issued for particular neighborhoods through the website aqmd.gov/home/air-quality/air-alerts;
— checking the “Before You Burn Map” on the AQMD’s website at www.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=d3e847503ff645eebfb667d4b0ce1d97;
— calling the AQMD’s toll-free number at 866-966-3293 for daily Check Before You Burn information;
— visiting the AQMD’s “Check Before You Burn” webpages at www.aqmd.gov/cbyb for more information;
— downloading the AQMD’s app to check local air quality and get notifications when no-burn days are called; and
— follow the AQMD’s social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
AQMD forecasters call for residential “no-burn” days when fine particulate matter — PM2.5 — is expected to reach unhealthy levels due to air emissions and stagnant weather conditions.
Twenty-three “no-burn” days were called last winter, according to the air quality agency.
The program went into effect nine years ago.
The AQMD noted that it is close to attaining the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s 24-hour standard for fine particulate matter after decades of reducing the emissions, and that public participation during “no-burn” days may make the difference toward meeting the standard this year.