Burning wood in a fireplace, chiminea or fire pit provides a warm cozy gathering place for families and friends during the holiday season. It also provides the perfect conditions for increased air pollution that can harm the ones you love. Maricopa County has higher levels of air pollution caused by woodburning smoke, especially during the winter months. This puts the County at risk of not meeting federal health standards. If Maricopa County is unable to meet these standards, burdensome and costly federal regulations and stricter rules that could also mean higher fines.
Maricopa County Air Quality Department (MCAQD) is asking Maricopa County residents and businesses to ‘Burn Cleaner, Burn Better.’ Instead of burning wood, you can Burn Cleaner, Burn Better and eliminate all particulate matter 2.5 (PM-2.5 or smoke) emissions by converting your wood burning fireplace to natural gas. Other cleaner options include fireplace retrofit, certified wood stoves, pellet stoves, gas and/or electric fireplaces.
Help protect the health of our residents, don’t burn wood when it is a No Burn Day. If you don’t know if it’s a No Burn Day, there are a number of resources available to you on this page. To learn the latest air quality forecast and No Burn Day status, you can download the Clean Air Mobile App, sign up for email or text alerts, visit CleanAirMakeMore.com each day or call 602-506-6400.