Wednesday, October 11 - October 13, 2017 - Sutter and Yuba Counties - Air Quality Health Advisory

Air Quality Health Advisory

For Wednesday October 11 to Friday October 13, 2017

Nicole Quick, MD, MPH, the Public Health Officer for Yuba County, and the Feather River Air Quality Management District are issuing a joint air quality health advisory to notify the public of potentially poor air quality conditions through Friday October 13 caused from smoke from several wildfires burning in Northern California.

The current Air Quality Index levels are in the moderate to unhealthy range in the Yuba Sutter area.  The winds have shifted northerly and increased on Wednesday, which may bring relief to some impacted areas while also increasing fire danger. Residents should stay alert and expect rapidly changing conditions over the next few days.

Smoke density can vary widely from one local area to another and also with time of day.  “Air quality conditions depend on a number of factors, which include proximity to the fire, wind speed and direction, and whether inversions are present,” warns Christopher D. Brown, Air Pollution Control Officer.  Based on information available at this time, the FRAQMD expects intermittent smoke impacts until Friday October 13. 

You can check current conditions online at www.airnow.gov.  Residents can also sign up for air quality forecasts and alerts at www.fraqmd.org.

Residents who see or smell smoke should consider these precautionary measures:

• Healthy people should delay strenuous exercise, particularly when they can smell smoke. 
• Children and elderly people should consider avoiding outdoor activities, particularly prolonged outdoor exertion. Parents of children involved in youth sports programs should consider whether their children be allowed to participate when smoke is in the air. 
• People with health-related illnesses, particularly respiratory problems, should remain indoors. 
• Keep windows and doors closed as much as possible.  Use the recycle or recirculate mode on the air conditioner in your home or car. 
• Avoid the use of non-HEPA paper face mask filters which are not capable of filtering extra fine particles.  Do not rely on HEPA face mask filters to do unnecessary outdoor activities. 
• Keep airways moist by drinking lots of water.  Breathing through a warm, wet washcloth can also help relieve dryness, but does not filter out the hazardous smoke particles. 
•  Avoid the fire areas. 

Wildfire smoke may contain particulate matter, ozone, carbon monoxide, and toxic air contaminants.  While all persons may experience varying degrees of symptoms, more sensitive individuals, such as the young, aged and those with respiratory conditions are at greatest risk of experiencing more aggravated symptoms.  Symptoms may include, but are not limited to, coughing, watery and itchy eyes, and difficulty breathing.  Persons experiencing questionable or severe symptoms should seek professional medical advice and treatment.

The ash deposited by forest fires is relatively nontoxic and similar to ash that might be found in your fireplace. However, any ash will contain small amounts of cancer-causing chemicals. In addition, fire ash may be irritating to the skin, especially to those with sensitive skin. If the ash is breathed, it can be irritating to the nose and throat and may cause coughing. Exposure to ash in air might trigger asthmatic attacks in people who already have asthma.

Ash and debris inside burned structures may contain more toxic substances than forest fire ash because of the many synthetic and other materials present in buildings. Older buildings in particular may contain asbestos and lead.

The following index may also assist in assessing the air quality based on the visibility in your area.  To assess visibility:

• Face away from the sun.  Determine visibility range by looking for targets that are at known distances (miles). 
• The visible range is the point where even high-contrast objects disappear. 
• After determining visibility in miles use the following Wildfire Smoke Visibility Index to assess air quality.
    

Visibility Range	Health Category	Recommended Action
10 + miles	Good	None
5 – 10 miles	Moderate	Usually sensitive people should consider reducing prolonged or heavy exertion
3 – 5 miles	Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups	Sensitive people should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion.
1.5 – 2.5 miles	Unhealthy	Sensitive people should avoid prolonged or heavy exertion.  Everyone else should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion.
1 – 1.25 miles	Very Unhealthy	Sensitive people should avoid all physical activity outdoors.  Everyone else should avoid prolonged or heavy exertion.
<0.75 miles	Hazardous	Sensitive people should remain indoors and keep activity levels low.  Everyone else should avoid all physical activity outdoors.

For distances, you can try your electronic device map app or look at a map of the local area that has a mile scale.  Some examples of local distances:  From the junction of Hwy 99 and Hwy 20 to the Sutter Buttes is 13 miles; the distance between the 5^th Street and 10^th Street bridges is about 0.5 mile. 

County officials will continue to monitor air quality in Sutter and Yuba County and provide updates on this advisory as needed.  For current information, or to sign up for air quality alerts and forecasts, go to the Feather River Air Quality Management District at http://www.fraqmd.org/ or check the Yuba County Public Health Facebook pages or Yuba County website.

Wednesday, October 11, 2017 - Placer County - Health Advisory

A joint air quality advisory issued by the Placer County Department of Public Health and the Placer County Air Pollution Control District for the potential of poor air quality due to wildfire smoke.

AUBURN, Ca. (October 11, 2017) -- The Placer County Public Health Officer and Placer County Air Pollution Control Officer are issuing a joint air quality advisory to notify the public of the potential of poor air quality conditions due to multiple fires occurring throughout northern California. This advisory will be active from today, October 11, 2017, until conditions improve.

Smoke is expected to affect all portions of Placer County until the fires are extinguished. Smoke contains very tiny particles that can be inhaled deep into the lungs. While all people may experience varying degrees of symptoms, the more sensitive individuals, such as young, aged and those with respiratory conditions are of greatest risk of experiencing more aggravated symptoms. Symptoms may include, but are not limited to coughing, watery and itchy eyes, scratchy throat and difficulty in breathing.

If you can see or smell smoke, avoid all unnecessary outdoor activities, especially if you are in an area where visibility is greatly reduced.

Here are recommended ways to reduce your smoke exposure:

• Stay indoors with the windows and doors closed; if possible run the air conditioner on the “recirculation” setting
• Limit outdoor exertion and physical activity
• Leave the smoke-impacted areas until conditions improve, if possible
• Reduce unnecessary driving. If traveling through smoke-impacted areas, be sure that your vehicle’s ventilation system is on recirculate
• Avoid the use of non‐HEPA paper face mask filters, which are not capable of filtering out extra fine particulates

Anyone experiencing questionable or severe symptoms should contact their doctor if they have any questions.

Keep in mind that air quality can change rapidly at different times during the day due to wind shifts; therefore, it is important to monitor the smoke throughout the day in your area and make outdoor plans accordingly. Information on smoke can be found at www.placerair.org or www.sparetheair.com. The Spare the Air website is a useful site to monitor current air quality values. 

Wednesday, October 11, 2017 - Western Nevada County - Health Advisory

October 11, 2017 – The Nevada County Public Health Department and the Northern Sierra Air Quality Management District are issuing a joint air quality health advisory to notify the public of potentially poor air quality conditions through October 13 resulting from numerous fires in California.  Smoke may settle in lower areas at night and drift across Nevada County during the day, depending on wind direction and other factors.

Exposure to elevated PM2.5 (fine particulate matter in smoke) concentrations can result in eye and throat irritation, headaches, nausea, shortness of breath, congestion, coughing, impaired lung function and chest pain, especially among sensitive individuals such as the elderly, children, people with asthma, people with heart or lung conditions, pregnant women and anyone who is exercising or working hard outdoors.

If you smell or see smoke around you, the following actions are recommended:

• Minimize outdoor activities even if you are healthy;
• Stay indoors with doors and windows closed as much as possible; run the air conditioner on the “recirculate” setting if that is an option;
• People with asthma should follow their asthma management plan;
• People with heart disease, respiratory or chronic health issues should stay indoors;
• Contact your doctor if you have symptoms of cough, shortness of breath, chest pain, or severe fatigue.
• Keep airways moist and stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water.
• Avoid breathing additional smoke, such as from cigarettes or barbecues.

Wednesday, October 11, 2017, Lion Fire Smoke Outlook

Link to Outlook - https://tools-c3.airfire.org/outlooks/2017/Lion#Main

Wednesday, October 11, 2017 - From the National Weather Service Sacramento's Facebook page.

Please click here to see the National Weather Service - Sacramento's forecast for Smoke movement Wednesday.