Air Quality
Click Here for Resources and Tips on Wildfire Smoke
Lions Bay's air quality is some of the best in the Lower Mainland. Help keep it that way!
Metro Vancouver's Mobile Air Monitoring Unit (MAMU) conducted a study in Lions Bay between December 2015 and March 2016. Read the full report.
The report identified sporadic occurrences of elevated levels of fine particulate matter for short periods. These elevated levels suggestive of both traffic emissions and smoke from residential wood burning.
Both short- and long-term exposures to particle pollution from wood smoke has been linked to serious health problems, especially in children, older adults, and those with heart or respiratory problems.
By 2025, Metro Vancouver is proposing to ban the use of residential wood-burning appliances - including woodstoves, pellet stoves, open fireplaces, inserts, and more - that emit more than 4.5 grams particulate per hour*. The ban will be phased in starting next year (2020). Read more...
Click here to see the survey results.
For more information on wood burning check out Metro Vancouver's Residential Wood Burning website.
If you do choose to have a fire, consider the information below to help reduce smoke and its health impacts. Burning smarter will help you have a more enjoyable experience, make cleanup easier and help reduce smoke and pollutants for both you and your neighbors.
- Wood should be split, stacked and covered for six months or more before burning. Use wood that has a moisture content of 20% or less. Firewood moisture meters are available at hardware and fireplace specialty stores.
- Burn hot fires as this facilitates a more complete combustion that decreases the amount of pollution generated. A poorly constructed fire or a fire left to smolder can produce large amounts of unhealthy smoke. Extinguish the fire completely when you are done, don't let it smolder.
- Start fires with clean newspaper and dry kindling.
- Don’t burn wet wood: it creates a lot of smoke and burns inefficiently.
- Never burn garbage, plastic, or pressure treated wood, which can produce harmful chemicals when burned.
- Regularly remove ashes from your wood-burning appliance to maintain proper airflow.
- Clean your chimney annually; soot build up causes more smoke and can cause a house fire.
- Consider upgrading to a modern efficient EPA-approved wood-burning appliance. Today’s wood-burning appliances burn cleaner and produce less smoke inside and outside your home and they burn less wood saving you time and money.
