Seeing smoke in the Sacramento area? It’s from this wildfire, raging north of the city

Smoke from the Dixie Fire, the huge wildfire burning just over 100 miles north of Sacramento, is expected to enter the Sacramento Valley Friday and linger through the weekend.

In a Thursday news release, the Sacramento Metro Air Quality District said that residents should expect smoke to enter the city early Friday afternoon.

“Northerly and northwesterly winds will transport smoke from the fire complexes in northwestern California into the Sacramento region,” the news release read. “While a wind shift Saturday night may provide some relief, the clean-out will be slow and better air quality is not expected until Sunday afternoon.”

Officials from the air quality district predict that air quality levels will reach unhealthy ranges through much of the weekend, and asked residents to “take precautions and avoid outdoor activities if they smell smoke.”

Some residents reported seeing hazy skies already Friday morning, with the sun tinted red from smoke in the early hours of the morning. But AQI levels remained within a safe zone at all detectors in Sacramento County through 11 a.m.

In nearby Placer and Nevada counties, however, AQI levels soared due to the nearby River Fire. The fire has burned 2,600 acres in the two counties, causing AQI levels to hit 433 at 2:30 p.m. in Colfax. Any measure above 150 is considered unhealthy to the general population; measurements above 200 are considered hazardous.

The Dixie Fire, which is responsible for the majority of the smoke headed toward Sacramento, has burned over 430,000 acres in Northern California, becoming California’s third-largest wildfire of all time. Smoke from the fire is “incredibly unhealthy to breathe,” the air quality district warned in a social media post Friday morning.

This story was originally published August 6, 2021 at 11:17 AM.