LAKE COUNTY – Smoke poured into the Lake County Air Basin from fires in and around the county over the weekend.
In addition to whiting out the horizon, the smoke catapulted air quality conditions to 98 percent of the allowable limit for health standards as of Sunday afternoon, according to Lake County Air Pollution Control Officer Bob Reynolds.
Conditions were already hazy starting Saturday evening when smoke came south from approximately 100 fires in Mendocino County. Fire Captain Mike Shirley of the Cal Fire Mendocino unit said lightning caused the fires when two storm cells moved through the area Friday evening and early Saturday morning. Reynolds reported Monday that 50 fires in Humboldt County and the approximately 3,500-acre fire on Walker Ridge Road in Lake County also contributed to the haze.
“Visibility standards, of course, are exceeded. The ozone is elevated. For visibility, you”re supposed to be able to see 10 miles, and obviously you can”t do that,” Reynolds said.
While explaining that visibility is not a health concern, Reynolds said the two things his office is concerned with in this case for air health quality are the amount of particulate material (PM) and ozone in the county”s air.
“The ozone has not been exceeded yet, although we”re at 98-99 percent of the standard. The particulate matter ? we have to go through a QA (quality assurance) process before we can determine whether it has been exceeded or not,” Deputy Air Pollution Control Officer Doug Gearhart said.
Gearhart said his office will likely know the ozone levels in approximately five days.
“For these large smoke events, we tend to have high ozone levels because the smoke brings in a lot of nitrogen oxides and volatile organics with it, which react in sunlight to create ozone,” Gearhart said.
The sunlight reacted chemically with the smoke to further reduce visibility by forming secondary particles in addition to the smoke, according to Reynolds. The secondary particles multiply and become larger as they draw moisture out of the air, he said, making the haze worse.
Smoky conditions didn”t keep water lovers away from Clear Lake Sunday afternoon, when Cobb resident Jack Senicola was spotted taking his granddaughters for a ride on a rented Sea-Doo. Several other people were seen fishing, swimming and boating at Library Park in Lakeport.
“Everything”s good. It”s just about average ? not up, not down. We”re lucky to be busy,” Kory Disney, co-owner of Disney Water Sports in Lakeport said.
Gearhart said the mountains surrounding the basin both protect Lake County from incoming smoke and hold the smoke in longer once it enters. Conditions can be expected to stay the same until the active fires are contained, he said.
“We”re expecting some west winds in the next few days, which will start clearing out some of the stagnant smoke. There”s still going to be a lot of smoke in the air from the active fires,” Gearhart said.
Hospitals and clinics in Lake County reported they did not see an increase in reported breathing problems during the past two days.
The Kelsey Creek Medical Clinic took more calls than usual from parents concerned about their children coughing and complaining of itchy eyes, according to Redbud Community Hospital spokesman Jeff Davis.
People who are sensitive to respiratory irritants or who have respiratory illness are urged to stay indoors and avoid unnecessary exercise. Air conditioners should be set on re-circulation, according to Reynolds.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com.
