Spare the Air Alert declared for Bay Area through Thanksgiving Day

The Bay Area Air Quality Management District has issued Spare the Air Alerts for today and Thanksgiving Day.

The alerts prohibit the use of all wood-burning devices, including fireplaces, wood stoves, pellet stoves, manufactured fire logs, and fire pits -- both indoors and outdoors.

District officials say a combination of increased holiday wood burning, cold overnight temperatures, and light winds will trap smoke close to the ground. High pressure over Northern California will act like a lid, and offshore winds may push additional pollution from the Central Valley into the Bay Area.

The district warns that wood smoke contains carcinogens and fine particulate pollution similar to cigarette or wildfire smoke. These particles can worsen asthma, trigger heart attacks, and increase long-term cancer risk, especially for children, older adults, and people with respiratory conditions.