Friday, December 8, 2017 - Ventura County Smoke Advisory

VCAPCD Smoke Advisory for Friday December 8th 2017

The Thomas Fire started on the evening of Monday, December 4th, 2017 near Highway 150 north of Santa Paula. As of 7 a.m. on December 8th, it has now burned 115,000 acres. This fire is wind driven from a strong Santa Ana wind event and is causing heavy smoke in the plume and downwind of the fire in and around the cities of Ventura, Oxnard, Santa Paula, and Ojai. The offshore winds are strong today but wind shifts in the next few days will allow for smoke to move into inland areas. Additionally, many other fires are burning in Southern California. The smoke from these fires may impact the eastern parts of Ventura County.


Smoke impacts from these devastating fires are widespread. Air quality should be considered unhealthy in areas directly impacted by smoke. In the Ojai Valley and surrounding areas, the air quality is extremely bad with the last couple of days at the Very Unhealthy/Hazardous levels. In fact, the numbers are off the charts for AQI readings. Very Unhealthy is defined by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as “a health alert signifying that everyone may experience more serious health effects”. Hazardous is defined by the EPA as "Health warnings of emergency conditions. The entire population is more likely to be affected". Also, all of the coastal plains are experiencing unhealthy air. If you are in an area directly impacted by the smoke, please exercise extreme caution and avoid vigorous outdoor or indoor exertion. People with respiratory or heart disease, the elderly, and children should remain indoors. Run your air conditioner if you have one. Keep the filter clean and fresh air intake closed. Close all windows and doors that lead outside to prevent bringing additional smoke inside. If this is not an option or it becomes extremely hot inside, please seek alternate shelter.


For information regarding the fire, evacuation notices, road closures…etc…please check readyventuracounty.org or the Twitter feed for the Ventura County Fire Department Public Information Officer, @vcfd_pio. Please check our website, vcapcd.org, or our Twitter feed for the latest updates (@vcapcd). For more information or concerns, please call VCAPCD at (805) 662-6960. Thank you.