Over the winter holidays, including Christmas and New Year’s Eve, the Valley faced no-burn days. That raised the ire of a number of residents, who complained about not being able to sit around a crackling fire with their families — especially when nighttime temperatures dropped into the 30s.

So where do no-burn days come from? And what kind of air quality do we have in the winter?

We talked with Eric Massey, the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality’s air quality division director.