Last week, the South Coast Air Quality Management District issued a three-day no burning of wood alert. The announcement was for Tuesday, Dec. 3 through Friday, Dec.6. Its cause and purpose were because of a warning that air pollution would already be high on that day.

On Saturday, Dec. 7, the National Weather Service issued a fire weather watch for early this week. “Fire weather watch is in effect from Monday morning through Tuesday night for strong gusty Santa Ana winds and low relative humidity in all mountain areas. . . ”

On Sunday, the Red Flag warning was extended to Wednesday.

But the Cal Fire Southern Operations 7-day forecast expects a low risk of fire through Dec. 12, but warns that the winds on Tuesday could be a trigger for a high risk event.

“Strong winds along with very dry conditions will cause the large fire threat to become high across Southern California Tuesday. . . The large fire threat will become low once again Wednesday through next weekend as winds become light. There will be a substantial decrease in the dead fuel moisture through the end of this week and the live fuel moisture will remain critically dry across Southern California,” Cal Fire said Sunday in its 7-day Predictive Services Outlook.

The no-burn announcement was targeted at communities, below 3,000 feet and non-desert, the burning of wood products was prohibited because of its addition to an already dangerous air quality environment.

The SCAQMD explained that no-burn days are based on fine particulate pollution that is forecasted for an entire 24-hour period, which may not be reflected in real-time air quality maps. Particles in wood smoke — also known as fine particulate matter or PM2.5 — can get deep into the lungs and cause respiratory problems (including asthma attacks), increases in emergency room visits and hospitalizations.

Hill communities were exempt from the no-burn ban. The announcement stated, “South Coast AQMD’s No-Burn Day alerts do not apply to mountain communities above 3,000 feet in elevation, the Coachella Valley, or the High Desert. Homes that rely on wood as a sole source of heat, low-income households and those without natural gas service also are exempt from the requirement.”