Spare the Air season begins

Stay alert! The Bay Area's Winter Spare the Air Season begins today.

Now until the end of February, it is illegal to burn wood, manufactured fire logs or any other solid fuel both indoors or outdoors whenever a winter Spare the Air Alert is called in the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.

The district includes the southern portion of Sonoma County.

The alerts are issued one day before the air quality is forecasted to be unhealthy due to weather conditions that trap smoke close to the ground.

"If you can smell it it can harm you," said Kristine Roselius, a district spokeswoman.

Wood burning smoke is the leading health risk from air pollution the largest source of winter time air pollution in the Bay Area, she said. There are about 1.4 million fireplaces in the 9-county Bay Area region covered by the district.

The alerts, which are usually called at about 2 p.m. the day before, go into effect at midnight and last 24 hours. The rules were adopted by the district in 2008. Since then, it has resulted in about 10 to 15 Spare the Air days during a season.

Last year, however, there were only four Spare the Air Days issued because of many rainy days, Roselius said.

Spare the Air alerts are often called when a temperature inversion results in still air and cold conditions. That's when warmer air masses move over the cooler ground air, trapping it. Particulate pollution, or soot, remains in the atmosphere for longer periods.

Those who violate Spare the Air alerts will receive a warning for the first violation. A second violations could result in a $400 fine, with increasing fines for subsequent violations.

Homeowners whose only source of heat are fireplaces are exempt from the Spare the Air rule.