Mendocino County      We have moved to a new location:

Air Quality Management District        405 Observatory Ave.
Wildfire Smoke Protection  Air Advisory

Why Should I Burn Wise?

Approximately 10 million wood stoves are currently in use in the United States, and 65 percent of them are older, inefficient, conventional stoves. Just 20 old, non-EPA certified wood stoves can emit more than 1 ton of fine particle pollution (PM2.5) into your area during the cold months of the year.

Smoke from wood-burning stoves and fireplaces contain a mixture of harmful gases and small particles. Breathing these small particles can cause asthma attacks and severe bronchitis, aggravate heart and lung disease, and may increase the likelihood of respiratory illnesses.


What Should I Do to Burn Wise?

1. Burn the Right Wood. Use Seasoned (Dried) Firewood.

Split, Stack, Cover, Store: Four Simple Steps to Drying Firewood

Burn the Right Wood. Not all wood is the same. Burn dry, seasoned wood to reduce particle pollution. Softwoods such as Douglas fir need six months to dry and hardwoods such as oak need at least 12 months. Garbage, plastic, treated lumber, and driftwood should never be burned. They emit toxic fumes and unhealthy particles.

Don't Burn Wet Wood

Wet wood is a problem for your health and your pocketbook. It creates a lot of smoke and burns inefficiently, meaning the heat literally goes up in smoke.


2. Operating Your Wood Burning Appliance

Operate Your Wood Stove More Efficiently

Start fires with newspaper and dry kindling or consider having a professional install a natural gas or propane log lighter in your open fireplace.

Burn hot fires.

To maintain proper airflow, regularly remove ashes from your wood-burning appliance into a metal container with a cover and store outdoors.




Items You Should Never Burn in Your Appliance

Never burn household garbage or cardboard. Plastics, foam and the colored ink on magazines, boxes, and wrappers produce harmful chemicals when burned. They may also damage your wood-burning appliance.

Never burn coated, painted, or pressure-treated wood because it releases toxic chemicals when burned.

Never burn ocean driftwood, plywood, particle board, or any wood with glue on or in it. They all release toxic chemicals when burned.

Never burn wet, rotted, diseased, or moldy wood.




More Wood Burning Resources

- News Article: www.epa.gov/burnwise/pdfs/kitarticle.pdf
- Fire and Health Safety Fast Facts: www.epa.gov/burnwise/pdfs/kitfacts.pdf
- Four Easy Steps InfoGraphic: www.epa.gov/burnwise/images/infographic_square.jpg
- Asthma Video PSA: www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJQ4IVDDA6Q
- Additional Health Resources and Tools: www.epa.gov/burnwise/kit.html




Burn Day Status

For todays burn day status please call 707-463-4391. .

Burn Permit Application> Click Here
SMP Online Burn Request> Click Here

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Air Quality for Mendocino

Current Air Quality Index for county:
Observed on --/--/-- at --:00

Ozone:
NA

PM2.5:
NA

More Air Quality Information:

Map data is collected from AirNow.gov.

News / Advisories

Mendocino County: Burn Suspension Lifted. - All open burning requires a fire and air quality burn permits.

Air Quality Advisory For Mendocino County covering smoke impacts from wildfires in California. Click Here for More Information

AB 617 Community Air Protection Incentive Projects - AB 617 Community Air Protection Incentives to Reduce Emissions. Click Here for More Information

Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust - provides about $423 million for California to mitigate the excess nitrogen oxide emissions caused by VW's use of illegal emissions testing defeat devices in certain VW diesel vehicles.. Click Here for More Information

Air District Relaxes Portable Diesel Engine Enforcement - ARB has determined the standards for DPM may not be feasible. Click Here for More Information

The District Mission

  The mission of the Mendocino County Air Quality Management District is to protect and manage air quality, an essential public resource upon which the health of the community depends. 

  Mendocino County Air Quality Management District is one of 35 local Air Districts in California.

Learn more