Fireplaces

Model-turned-actress Natasha Henstridge, who starred as the alluring human-alien hybrid Sil and her clone Eve in the sci-fi horror "Species" films, has sold her Sherman Oaks home for $1.75 million. The traditional-style house, which was built in 1935 and sits on about half an acre, has five bedrooms and six bathrooms in 3,825 square feet. There are five fireplaces, vaulted wood-beam ceilings, skylights and an expansive wooden deck. Steps off the back of the house lead across the lawn to the swimming pool area.

It's an evening tradition at Corona del Mar State Beach: At first, families descend on the 30 fire rings in the sand with bundles of wood, camping chairs and blankets, marshmallows and hot dogs. Then, as night falls, crowds of young people huddle around the glow of raging bonfires. When 10 p.m. hits, the police roll in to move them along. But that tradition could soon go up in smoke. Fed up with the late-night partying, smoke and mess left behind, Newport Beach officials may extinguish its dozens of fire pits once and for all. Councilwoman Nancy Gardner, who is spearheading the effort, said the nighttime scene at the fire pits at Big Corona, as the beach is known, has gotten out of control, with revelers burning huge nail-studded pallets and leaving hot coals in the sand.

Three children, the oldest age 6, were killed by a fireball that jumped from a fireplace as their cousin tried to stoke embers with gas from a can, authorities confirmed Thursday. Abbey Van Buskirk, 6, and her brothers Andrew, 4, and Austin, 2, were found dead Wednesday night inside the gutted remains of their grandparents' home in Spring Valley, a modest suburb about 15 miles east of downtown San Diego, according to the San Diego County medical examiner's office. Their 18-year-old cousin suffered serious burns on his hand and was taken to UC San Diego Medical Center for treatment.

A new generation of fireplaces fueled by natural gas or ethanol promises a cool modern look, not to mention a cleaner burn -- and just in time. Last week the South Coast Air Quality Management District board announced that a year from now, fireplaces in most homes built or remodeled in Southern California must be fueled by clean-burning alternatives to wood. Modern designs hitting the market -- some mounted on a wall, no chimney required -- have received much hype.

A dirty brown haze sometimes more than a mile thick is darkening skies over vast areas of Asia and in the Middle East, southern Africa and the Amazon Basin, changing weather patterns and threatening health and food supplies, the United Nations reported. The so-called atmospheric brown clouds are a mix of particles, ozone and other chemicals that come from cars, coal-fired power plants, burning fields and wood-burning stoves and fireplaces. A report commissioned by the U.N. Environment Program said the clouds dim light by as much as 25% in some cities, including Karachi, Pakistan; New Delhi; Shanghai; and Beijing.

Throwing a few logs on the fire on a nippy evening, or boosting a home's market appeal by advertising its wood-burning fireplace, could go the way of the coal chute and the ice box for many Southern Californians if newly proposed air quality regulations are adopted.

Southern California air regulators Friday approved a comprehensive clean air plan that, if fully implemented, could place stringent restrictions on home fireplaces. But individual elements of the plan, approved unanimously by the South Coast Air Quality Management District, must be separately passed by the board in order to become law. A September vote on the fireplace measure is scheduled, but several members who approved the larger plan say they may not ultimately support those restrictions.

IN the model home dubbed "The Pioneer," a rambling house tucked into a Corona subdivision springing up among the last dairy farms of Riverside County, is a fireplace unlike anything the early settlers ever gathered around on a chilly night. Sleek glass doors front a metal insert that holds ceramic "logs." Built-in gas jets stand ready to send up flickering flames.

Greenies will argue that it's best not to light the fireplace at all. But for those who can't resist, manufactured logs have evolved. Some use recycled materials, are petroleum-free and, compared with firewood, emit less carbon monoxide and particulates and leave fewer creosote deposits. The three fire logs below base their green credentials on third-party reviews. Java-Log Contents: Spent coffee grounds and vegetable wax. Burn time: 2 to 3 hours. Price: $3.