Tuesday night’s storm may have cleaned up the air for much of the Valley and foothills, but winter is still the season the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District limits wood burning. New changes this year to its “Check Before You Burn” program could bring more no-burn days to Fresno, Madera and Kern Counties. The air district has tightened its standards for when it prohibits fires, for both typical wood-burning fireplaces and even cleaner-burning devices registered with the air district. Air officials have identified Fresno, Madera and Kern as air pollution “hot spots” requiring more restrictions than other areas. So what will that mean for residents? It’s impossible to predict with certainty, but in Fresno County for example, if the air quality were on a par with last year, Deputy Air Pollution Control Officer Morgan Lambert estimates “we’d be looking at somewhere around 10 to 15 additional ‘no burn unless registered’ days, and another 15-20 or so ‘no burning for all’ days.
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