LAKEPORT >> With smoke belching from the Sulphur Fire, the county’s Air Quality Management District issued a an unhealthy to hazardous air warning on Monday afternoon.
The highest levels of smoke are expected along the north shore of Clear Lake, the city of Clearlake and surrounding areas, according to AQMD’s Douglas Gearhart.
He added that Monday’s haze was largely due to the local blaze.
“Other active fires in the region may add to the smoke impacts in Lake County,” Gearhart said in a prepared statement.
The district dropped the air quality rating because of windy conditions during the morning and the potential for higher levels of smoke from the region’s unchecked fires. Already on Monday, air quality had reached moderate to unhealthy.
Gearhart expects smoke to taint local air for the next few days.
“The district is actively monitoring the smoke impacts,” he observed.
Gearhart pointed out that smoky conditions can cause irritation of the eyes, nose and air passages. These conditions can be hazardous for sensitive individual including young children, the elderly, individuals with heart conditions, and those with chronic lung disease such as asthma, bronchitis, and other respiratory conditions.
“Dust masks are not protective against the ultra fine particulate, which is the pollutant most detrimental to health caused by wildfire smoke,” he said. “Air purifying respirators, such as N-95 filtering face pieces, may be effective in reducing some of the harmful particulate matter, but they also increase the work of breathing, can lead to physiologic stress, and are not recommended as a general protective measure.”
Localized areas of very unhealthy or hazardous air quality, regional haze, and particulate from these fires can be expected until the regional fires are fully contained, Gearhart reported.
