The region’s smog-control agency is offering a $125 rebate to homeowners who convert their wood-burning fireplaces to gas.

The program, meant to reduce air pollution from wood smoke, proved so popular that it sold out in December after 5,000 people used it to convert their fireplaces.

The program was recently expanded by the South Coast Air Quality Management District to cover an additional 2,500 homeowners.

Prices for such conversion sets vary, but $125 covers most or all of the installation cost, said air district spokesman Sam Atwood.

Residents of Orange County and parts of Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties can go to the Healthy Hearths Initiative Web page, find out if they live in a qualifying Zip code, and locate a fireplace dealer nearby.

The $125 is taken off the purchase and installation price at the time of sale.

Wood smoke produces fine-particle pollution, which can work its way deeply into lungs and cause a variety of health problems.

Such pollution from sources including wood-burning fireplaces has been linked to 6,200 premature deaths in California every year, according to the California Air Resources Board.

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