What California wildfires mean for Sacramento air quality: Hazy skies, ash on cars
The Sacramento region woke up to skies darkened by wildfire smoke and ash topping car hoods Wednesday.
Fires are raging across Northern California, with the most extreme activity in the North Bay area in the form of a massive lightning fire complex that has spread as far as the west side of Vacaville, destroying dozens of homes in Napa and Solano counties and forcing the evacuations of thousands more as it moved east.
The only part of the four-county Sacramento area directly involved in wildfire threat as of 10:30 a.m. is the far west edge of Yolo County — up to but not including Winters — where county emergency officials have issued mandatory evacuation orders.
But smoke descended upon the capital region overnight from the surrounding fires. Social media users — and Bee reporters — observed cars parked outside, from the city of Sacramento to Folsom and farther east, covered in the unmistakable substance of wildfire ash early Wednesday.
Skies were very hazy shortly after sunrise near Sacramento, clearing up slightly with the sun peeking through as the morning progressed, but with smoke still clearly visible and pungent.
Fire officials and local air districts are warning that the wildfires will significantly impact air quality in Northern California, and are urging residents to avoid outdoor activities that were already made inadvisable by the continuing triple-digit heat.
As a general rule of thumb, if you can see or smell smoke, you should stay indoors as much as possible, according to air quality, weather and fire authorities.
“Multiple fires are making for extremely poor air quality,” Sacramento Local 522, the area’s firefighter union, tweeted Wednesday. “Avoid outdoor activities if you have respiratory issues.”
Just after midnight, Sacramento region air districts sent an alert after particulate matter (PM 2.5) pollution from the LNU Lighting Complex Fire pushed the air quality index in the Vacaville area to 201, denoting “very unhealthy” conditions for the general ppopulation. AQI readings in Davis and Woodland as of that time were between 150 and 200, meaning the air is unhealthy, and remain in that range as of late Wednesday morning.
Air conditions were deemed at least moderately unhealthy throughout the greater Sacramento area by 10 a.m., according to SpareTheAir.com, a joint program that includes the Sacramento Metropolitan, El Dorado, Feather River, Placer and Yolo-Solano air quality districts.
The Yolo-Solano district issued a “smoke alert” saying residents are experiencing “significant impacts to air quality” directly related to smoke from the LNU Lightning Complex.
The district told residents to keep their doors and windows closed.
The American Lung Association in a recent statement advised that extreme heat, wildfires and rolling blackouts combine to “present serious lung health concerns for those in or near affected areas” throughout California.
“Exposure to wildfire smoke and extreme heat can cause serious health problems including asthma attacks, heart attacks and premature death.”
The American Lung Association says those with chronic lung disease should gather all their medications, prescriptions and insurance cards and have them ready in one place so that they’re readily accessible in the event of evacuation. Those who are driving should close car windows and vents, and set air conditioning to “recirculate” when driving through a smoky area.
This story was originally published August 19, 2020 at 10:57 AM.
