Huddling around a cozy fireplace during the holidays may be a pleasurable experience, but the Bay Area Air Quality Management District is strongly discouraging it over the New Year’s weekend in an effort to keep air quality healthy.

The air district is asking residents not to burn wood in their fireplaces, wood stoves or outdoor fire pits through the New Year’s holiday. Air quality is projected to be “moderate” for the Bay Area during that time, but that could change if people begin to create wood smoke.

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Katy St. Clair got her start in journalism by working in the classifieds department at the East Bay Express during the height of alt weeklies, then sweet talked her way into becoming staff writer, submissions editor, and music editor. She has been a columnist in the East Bay Express, SF Weekly, and the San Francisco Examiner. Starting in 2015, she begrudgingly scaled the inverted pyramid at dailies such as the Vallejo Times-Herald, The Vacaville Reporter, and the Daily Republic. She has her own independent news site and blog that covers the delightfully dysfunctional town of Vallejo, California, where she also collaborates with the investigative team at Open Vallejo. A passionate advocate for people with developmental disabilities, she serves on both the Board of the Arc of Solano and the Arc of California. She lives in Vallejo.