The Bay Area Air District has issued Spare the Air alerts for this Wednesday and Thanksgiving Day, marking the region’s first winter bans on wood burning this season.

The alerts prohibit the use of all wood-burning devices, including fireplaces, wood stoves, pellet stoves, manufactured fire logs, and fire pits — both indoors and outdoors — as pollution levels are expected to rise.

The district officials say a combination of increased holiday wood burning, cold overnight temperatures, and light winds will trap smoke close to the ground. High pressure over Northern California will act like a lid, and offshore winds may push additional pollution from the Central Valley into the Bay Area.

The district warns that wood smoke contains carcinogens and fine particulate pollution similar to cigar

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