Spare The Air Alerts Issued Through Saturday Due To Wildfire Smoke

A long string of Spare the Air alerts issued by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District because of wildfires burning around the region since mid-August will continue until at least Saturday, air district officials said.

The alerts, which ban the burning of wood or other solid fuel both indoors and outdoors, are the 18th and 19th consecutive alerts issued due to the smoke caused by lightning-sparked wildfires around the Bay Area and elsewhere in Northern California.

While much of the Bay Area could have moderate to good air quality going into this weekend, smoke from fires in the North Bay and South Bay are forecast to create isolated pockets of unhealthy air pollution in the North Bay, San Francisco and the East Bay, according to the air district.

Temperatures are expected to reach triple digits around the region in the coming days, so Bay Area residents in locations with unhealthy air are advised to stay inside with windows and doors closed and to set air conditioning units to re-circulate to prevent outside air from coming inside.