To burn or not to burn?

Learning when not to burn will take a little doing this winter.A total of 320,000 dwellings in Sacramento County that use fireplaces or wood stoves stand to be affected by a partial ban on wood burning.Sacramento County Air Quality Management District board members last month banned use of typical wood stoves, and use of fireplaces, on days when heavy air pollution is forecast. The vote was 8-3. Days on which air is heavily polluted - with 40 micrograms per cubic meter of harmful particulates or chemicals - average around 23 per winter season. A combination of e-mail alert, a free phone number to call and publication or broadcast by various news media is available for residents to learn of bad-air-day forecasts, said district spokeswoman Jamie Arno.The air district is offering an incentive program for residents to buy federally certified, cleaner-burning wood stoves that gain partial exemption from the ban - allowing use on days where marginally heavy pollution is forecast and use of regular stoves and fireplaces is not permitted."The AQMD has funding to help Sacramento County residents replace older, more polluting units with cleaner-burning, EPA certified or equivalent units," officials announced.During winter, wood burning accounts for around half - 49 percent - of soot and other particle pollution in Sacramento County air. Soot and particulates can lodge in the airways of the lungs. "There's going to be a variety of ways to learn of bad-air forecasts," Arno said. "A toll-free number, 877- 662-8765, or 877-NOBURN, can be called. A service called 'Air Alert' is offered, using the Web address sparetheair.com, where we send (subscribers) an e-mail every day - trying to make it easy for people. And on the weather pages of various newspapers and other media."For the ban's first year, violators will receive warning letters. After that, violators will incur a $50 fine or have the option of attending pollution-awareness classes.The Telegraph's Roger Phelps can be reached at rogerp@goldcountry-media.com, or post a comment at folsomtelegraph.comThe burning questionTo find out mroeinformation on bad-air days call:877-662-8765or on-lineWeb site:sparetheair.com