Tis the Season: To Burn. Not To Burn. Safely Burn.

Fires in the hearth. Ahh the days! Having a glass of wine, warm embers glowing orange in the fireplace, a romantic wood smoke tradition for some and a necessity to stay warm for others. The smoke wafting into the sky, though, a familiar smell harkening back to childhood especially to those living in the cold (Los Angeles about to be hit with another heat wave) is a bain for those with asthma and cardiovascular disease.

Fine particulates PM2.5 is a health threat. So here's the deal. In Orange County, and major portions of Los Angeles, Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties, our air quality district, South Coast Air Quality Managment District, will levy fines starting at $50 for a first time offender if you burn during a NO BURN ALERT, going up to $500 for a third time offense.

So know before you burn, for you play an important role in keeping our skies clean.

Check Before You Burn & No Burn Alerts in Your Area

• Sign up for email notices to learn when No Burn Alerts are happening or plug in your zip code here to learn if your area is under a No Burn Alert.

• Call AQMD’s 24-hour Check Before You Burn toll-free line at (866) 966-3293. Ready to be a watch-dog? Good. Talk to your neighbors and if they don't stop burning on a no-burn day, report violations at 1-800-Cut-Smog.

• AQMD is offering financial incentives to "upgrade" your fireplace to cleaner gas logs in their Gas Log Incentive Program. Click here for more information.

Before You Burn is part of AQMD’s Healthy Hearths initiative and Rule 445 to protect public health by reducing harmful fine particulate pollution during winter months.  The program was voluntary during 2010 but became mandatory last year.  Alerts are issued when PM2.5 levels are forecast to exceed the federal health standard of 35 micrograms per cubic meter averaged over a 24-hour period. Alerts are issued one day in advance and last for 24 hours.  For example, an alert issued on a Monday is in place from Monday at midnight (just after 11:59 p.m. Monday) until Tuesday at midnight.

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