Spare the Air, Day 5 — Thursday Sets a Record for Consecutive Bans on Wood Burning

Thursday, Dec. 12, will be the fifth mandatory Spare the Air day in a row, a new record for consecutive daily bans on wood burning in the Bay Area, an air quality official said Wednesday.

"These really dry, cold conditions are ripe for air pollution," said Tom Flannigan, public information officer for the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, which issues Spare the Air alerts.

"But we're hoping for relief later this week."

Friday could go either way. The decision to whether to issue an alert is "a day-by-day thing," based on information from the district's meteorologist, Flannigan said.

"Since last Friday's rain, we've had a very still air mass hovering over the Bay Area," he said. "We see an accumulation of air pollution on these days."

He said that while residents of hill areas may feel some breezes, there's virtually no wind at lower elevations right now. That's trapping pollutants close the ground and causing unhealthy air.

The closest rival to this week's five-day stretch came in 2011, when two voluntary Spare the Air days on Dec. 5 and 6 were followed by four mandatory no-burning days on Dec. 7-10, Flannigan said.

Thursday's alert prohibits Bay Area residents from burning wood, manufactured fire logs or any other solid fuel both indoors and outdoors for 24 hours.

First-time violators of the ban are given the option of taking a wood smoke awareness class or paying a $100 fine. Second violations result in a $500 fine and the penalties rise with each violation after that.

It's the ninth Spare the Air alert ordered this winter.

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