As Southwest Riverside County residents brace for cold winter temperatures and prepare to entertain family members for the holidays, the temptation to fire up that cozy, romantic fireplace is heating up.

But the tradition of throwing another log on the fire -- a wooden one, at least -- may be on the way out.

That's a troubling thought for many, including longtime resident Annie Borel, whose family homesteaded French Valley northeast of Temecula more than a century ago.

"I saw a sign for free firewood the other day, and thought, 'Gosh, it's not going to be long before they're telling us we can't have fireplaces,'" Borel said.

Indeed, a powerful special district with the task of clearing the air in four smoggy Southern California counties, including Riverside, is going to make builders stop framing tract homes with wood-burning fireplaces. As of March 9, all new homes in heavily populated areas of Riverside, Orange, Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties will have to have gas-log fireplaces -- or no fireplaces at all.

Then, in fall 2011, the South Coast Air Quality Management District will begin issuing orders for people with traditional fireplaces to avoid lighting fires on days when soot pollution is high. The agency says those temporary bans on fires will occur, on average, 10 to 20 days each winter.

The bans will be confined to areas where soot reaches unhealthful levels. So, for example, if levels are high in Lake Elsinore but moderate in the Temecula Valley, residents of Lake Elsinore will have to extinguish their fires but Temecula and Murrieta residents won't.

The agency doesn't plan to patrol neighborhoods to enforce its wood-burning bans, but rather to rely on complaints from neighbors.

No such bans are planned for North San Diego County communities, which are regulated by another agency -- the San Diego County Air Pollution Control District. That district's officials considered, but rejected, fireplace restrictions a few years ago after concluding the strategy would have a marginal effect on air quality there.

Worse than power plants

Despite criticism from builders and others, the South Coast district stands behind its tough new rules and says they will significantly reduce soot levels in its four-county area.

"Wood smoke may seem like it is natural, but in fact it is quite harmful to our health," said Sam Atwood, a spokesman for the district in Diamond Bar. "You only have to look to the wildfires and the widespread pollution that they cause to realize that wood burning in fireplaces does the same thing, only on a much smaller scale."

Some of the worst soot episodes in recent years have occurred when wildfires raged out of control.

Over the course of a typical winter day, Atwood said, fireplaces and wood-burning stoves pump 13 tons of fine particles into Southern California skies and account for more than 10 percent of the region's soot problem. That 13 tons is nine times the amount power plants belch into the air.

And that's on a typical day.

Atwood said on many winter days -- and holidays tend to be examples -- fireplaces put out much more than 13 tons.

"Really, it is a health issue for people," said Terry Roberts, American Lung Association of California's area director for Riverside and San Bernardino counties. "If you have asthma, it can trigger an asthma attack."

The air district estimates high soot levels each year cause 5,000 people with heart and lung ailments to die prematurely across the four-county region.

But while the district is phasing in restrictions on fireplaces, it is not targeting other wood-burning activities. For example, restaurants with wood-burning ovens won't have to buy new ovens, mountain visitors won't have to extinguish campfires and ocean lovers won't have to douse beach bonfires.

"Bonfires are very popular and an honored Southern California tradition," Atwood said.

And neither they nor campfires cause much pollution, he said.

The crackle of the fire

Opponents of the rules, however, say the district also should refrain from cracking down on another time-honored tradition: snuggling up to a toasty warm fire in the home.

Along with the aroma of a freshly cut alfalfa field and the pleasant scent of a pine forest, the ambience of the fireplace ranks right up there among life's special experiences, as far as Borel is concerned.

Borel added that some of the holiday season's traditions are centered around the mantel.

"You've got Santa coming down the chimney, and the tradition of setting cookies out for Santa," she said.

Besides the holiday connection, said Julie Senter, spokeswoman for the Building Industry Association of Southern California, "there is something about that crackle in the fire … and sitting around the fireplace with hot cocoa. It brings back a lot of memories for a lot of people. And that's an option that is not going to be available any more in a new home."

Proponents of the rules argue that fireplace traditions are not in danger of being cast aside.

"You can still get that same romantic effect from the gas logs," said Roberts, of the lung association. "And without the mess. You don't have to clean up the ashes."

An incentive program

Atwood also challenged the notion that traditions are under attack.

"There are some attractive gas log sets out there," Atwood said. "You're not giving up the ambience, you're not giving up the romance and you're not giving up the heat."

Atwood said that homeowners throughout the district -- Southwest Riverside County included -- are eligible for a $125 reduction on the purchase of a set of gas logs. They just have to buy a set from one of 63 dealers partnering with the agency on a rebate program that aims to persuade people to trade out their wood logs for gas ones.

Atwood said it costs anywhere from $375 to $725 to purchase a set and have it installed. To date, 600 families have taken advantage of the offer to receive an instant rebate on a gas log purchase.

For more information about the incentive program, visit www.healthyhearths.org.

While the district is encouraging families to consider trading in their wood logs, it is not required. And homeowners looking to renovate fireplaces don't have to switch to natural gas.

But there are situations in which a switch would be required by the district's regulation.

"It doesn't apply to repairs," Atwood said. "What it would apply to is adding a new wing on your house or building a guest house for your mother-in-law."

For the latest air quality readings and forecasts, visit www.aqmd.gov.

Contact staff writer Dave Downey at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2623, or ddowney@californian.com.