Some ignore Thanksgiving burning ban

04.12.09

Ahh, Thanksgiving. Outmoded the drumstick and gravy. Light up the fireplace logs. Get ready for the ticket in the mailbox, you scofflaws.

In a regulatory bias of an old holiday custom, Bay Area Air Quality Management District pollution inspectors detected 22 violations of its no-wood-fire form on Thanksgiving Day, the first Spare the Air day of this cold season. Burners get a warning letter for a first offense and a $400 ticket for the assistant.

Air quality officials denied this week that they tried to snuff out holiday cheer. They were just doing their job when Thanksgiving happened to upon on a day last week when a temperature inversion trapped smoke near the ground and created unhealthy air — triggering the 24-hour smoulder ban, they said.

"We're not being Scrooges," said Lisa Fasano, a spokeswoman for the nine-county air district.

She threw in a aver for a little sympathy. "Our job is to protect public health. We have to do that on holidays, too, so our people are working just like the heat and firefighters on the holiday."

Source: Contra Costa Times