Why are campfires allowed on Spare the Air days?

On Sept. 15, as the smokefilled air in the San Geronimo Valley had only just cleared, I rode my bicycle through Samuel P. Taylor Park and I was alarmed to see a fire burning in a fire ring at an occupied campsite. I knew that it was a Spare the Air day, as it has been throughout the past month, where burning of any solid fuels, like firewood, is prohibited. I assumed that the camper was unaware, so I went to tell the camp host to get the fire put out, only to find a fire also burning at the camp host’s campsite.

I spoke with the host, who claimed ignorance about Spare the Air days, then said that they do not apply to the park and that “everyone does it, anyway” and that I would need to take it up with management.

I promptly emailed “management” but did not get a response, so recently I returned to the park and spoke to a ranger. She confirmed that the park does have an exemption to be able to burn wood on Spare the Air days, although there does not appear to be anything on either the Samuel P. Taylor Park or Spare the Air websites about this.

She said that the rangers ensure the campers keep their fires under control and that the tall redwood trees are often in the fog and have shallow root systems and are able, somehow, to keep the smoke levels down — she said that it is never very smoky in the park, even when it is smoky in surrounding areas.

It seems incongruous tome to allow campfires in a heavily wooded park, just a fewmiles from where people are at home, next to their air filters, worried when the next wildfiremight erupt.

— Clive Bridges, Woodacre