Placer County has had some of the worst air in the region – but no one could say exactly how bad the smoke was Tuesday because the local particle pollution samplers were not working.
The portable electronic monitor in Auburn and the same model in Colfax both mysteriously stopped running Sunday when the air was at very unhealthy levels. But the Placer County Air Pollution Control District has had no replacements immediately available, district officials said.
"There appears to be some issue with power. They weren't restarting," said Heather Kuklo, a district air quality official.
Particle pollution – microscopic bits of soot and other floating matter – normally is a wintertime scourge in the foothills, the result of chimney smoke from fireplaces and wood stoves.
With that in mind, the Placer air district committed all four of its portable particle samplers this summer to a months-long air monitoring project at the Union Pacific railyard in Roseville, Kuklo said.
When smoke from the June 20-21 blitz of lightning-set fires began to saturate the foothills, Placer air district officials borrowed two air samplers from the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District to monitor smoke levels in Auburn and Colfax, Kuklo said.
The Placer district has enlisted the help of state and federal air officials to get another expensive monitor on loan quickly while the loaners from Sacramento undergo repair by the manufacturer.
In the meantime, foothills residents can gauge the smoke hazard with their own eyes and noses.
"People can still look out their windows and say, 'Yep, the air is still crappy,' " Kuklo said. "They don't have to call us up to learn how bad it is."
Call The Bee's Chris Bowman, (916) 321-1069.
