Southern California air officials ban wood, pellet and manufactured log burning through late Saturday

Southern California air pollution officials have issued an alert banning wood and wood product burning through midnight Saturday due to poor air quality.

Burning wood, pellets or manufactured fire logs is prohibited “in any indoor or outdoor wood-burning device,” and charcoal can only be used for cooking in a grill or other “cooking device,” said the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

The alert covers the South Coast air basin, including large areas of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties but not the high desert, Coachella Valley or areas above 3,000 feet in elevation. Homes that rely on wood as a sole source of heat and those without natural gas are exempt from the ban.

Burning creates particle pollution, both large and small pieces of soot that are unhealthy to breathe and can be dangerous for people with a range of respiratory conditions, including asthma, the flu and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD.

“No-Burn Day alerts are mandatory in order to protect public health when levels of fine particle pollution or ozone are forecast to be high anywhere in the South Coast Air Basin,” the agency said in a statement.

As of 2:30 p.m. Saturday, the Purple Air network of particle pollution monitors showed particle pollution levels had subsided from their highs in the morning.

Small soot particles can provoke asthma attacks and increase emergency room visits and hospitalizations.

This is the fourth No-Burn Day the South Coast AQMD has issued in the 2025-26 season.