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Spare The Air Alert Issued For Wednesday

Wood burning ban is declared despite a forecast of light rain tomorrow afternoon

Despite some rain in the forecast, another Spare the Air alert has been issued for Wednesday.

The edict prohibits the burning of wood, manufactured fire logs and other solid fuel indoors or outdoors throughout the Bay Area all day and all evening Wednesday.

It's the eighth such alert issed by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District since Jan. 1.

The ban comes even though the National Weather Service is forecasting rain during the day on Wednesday and possible showers Wednesday evening.

Air quality officials say particulates have built up in the air during the past few days and are threatening to reach unhealthy levels on Wednesday. Officials say tomorrow's rain will not be enough to reduce pollution levels.

“The region will again experience high particulate pollution levels,” said Jack Broadbent, the air district's executive officer. "Due to the Winter Spare the Air Alert calls, we have not yet exceeded the federal health standard, which is exactly what the alerts are designed to do."

First-time violators are given the option to take a wood smoke awareness class, online or by mail, in lieu of paying a penalty. Second violations result in a $500 ticket and subsequent ticket amounts are higher.

David Ross January 22, 2013 at 11:23 pm
This is getting to be (strike that -this IS) absurd. What "science" are these idiots at the BAAQMD using? Do they not have the capability of looking at a weather map and seeing that the weather is NOT the same throughout the 6000+ square miles of the Bay Area? In other words, why the hell are the calling a spare the air day for the whole region when the whole region does not have the same weather?
Of course, this is what we get when people vote for the same a**holes year after year and these a**holes (i.e. Democrat politicians) enact stupid, not (NOT) based on science regulations.
Tim January 23, 2013 at 12:04 am
It's actually worse than that because the bureaucrats at AQMD are NOT elected. They are appointed. They have politburo powers with not accountability. So, you don't even get a say, at least not directly.
x January 23, 2013 at 01:36 pm
I think this guy (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfIoOm9r90o) that's on KTVU right now that did something just like this video last night tooooootally disregarded the spare the air alert. It wasn't vandalism, it's actually his art. Thing is he purposely did this last night. Says, "I didn't know I was doing something wrong." Firefighters had to cut open the roof to ventilate the building (tax dollars hard at work), and the whole spare the air thing.
Jonathan January 23, 2013 at 06:25 pm
How can there be a valid spare the air for today? It is raining!
John Fabiani January 23, 2013 at 08:17 pm
Its based on datapoints throughout the region.
Michael Cabanatuan January 23, 2013 at 10:38 pm
Wow. Seems like Patch has a lot of trained meteorologists offering their scientific expertise.
James Nelson January 23, 2013 at 11:30 pm
Michael,
As a Graduate of Meteorology For Dummies, I can assert that the Posters above are onto something! Cheers.
Tim January 24, 2013 at 01:44 am
As someone who holds a degree in Geology with background in Meteorology including college classes in physical meteorology, analysis and forecasting, and atmospheric dynamics, I can assure you I have more of a background than your casual Patch reader and I am calling "bullshit" on the AQMD.
Tim January 24, 2013 at 01:49 am
It shouldn't be based on "datapoints" anywhere. it should be based upon forecasting models. It would be pretty stupid to order a "ban" day tomorrow regardless of today's conditions. I don't know how they base their days myself but it seems as if they may as well be throwing darts at a board. If a cold, dry, low wind day is forecasted I would expect the possibility of a ban. If, however, the weather is mild, wet, or windy, I would expect them to leave us the hell alone, or better yet, go get "real" jobs.

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ted friedman June 18, 2013 at 10:08 pm
The name is weirdly spelled, but not this weird. It's Caffe, not Caffee. I've only typed these wordsRead More a thousand times.