As Smoke Returns, Bay Area Air Quality Expected to Worsen Over Next Few Days

Update, 9:30 a.m. Wednesday:
The Bay Area Air Quality Management District upgraded its air quality advisory Wednesday morning to a Spare the Air Alert, which is in effect through Thursday due to continued impacts from wildfire smoke blowing into the region.

The alert bans the burning of wood or any solid fuel, both indoors and outdoors. Air quality across much of the Bay Area has degraded to mostly ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups’ and ‘unhealthy’ Air Quality Index (AQI) levels, the air district said, urging residents — especially children and people with respiratory conditions — to limit outdoor exposure.

Explore an updated Bay Area air quality map.

Original story, 6 p.m. Tuesday:
Air quality across most of the Bay Area took a nosedive Tuesday afternoon as smoke from wildfires burning in the far northwestern quadrant of the state crept into the region.

Early Tuesday, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District issued an air quality advisory through Wednesday due to the smoke, and urged residents to remain cautious and limit their outdoor exposure.

“Wildfire smoke can be unpredictable,” Juan Romero, an air district spokesperson, told KQED. “So we tell people to take the precautions necessary to avoid exposure. If you smell the smoke, stay indoors with your windows and doors closed if you can.”

Romero also recommended setting air conditioners to recirculate air, and said people with respiratory diseases like asthma should take extra care.

By late Tuesday afternoon, as the smoke thickened, San Francisco’s Department of Emergency Management said air quality had reached the “unhealthy for sensitive groups” threshold and encouraged residents to wear face coverings when going outside.

By 5 p.m., readings at official air monitoring sites in San Francisco and West Oakland had reached the red, “unhealthy” category, with PM2.5 indexes of 161 and 154, respectively.

A low-pressure system is expected to continue drawing smoke from the far-northern wildfires, with northerly and northeasterly winds carrying it down the coast as far south as Central California over the next few days, according to the National Weather Service.

Numerous lightning strikes touched off the fires in mid-August, and have produced heavy smoke for weeks, creating occasionally unhealthy-to-hazardous air quality in northwestern California.

The biggest of those blazes is the Smith River Complex, which began in Del Norte County and has since crossed into southern Oregon, burning a total of more than 140 square miles. Smoke from the Happy Camp Complex in Siskiyou County, and the Six Rivers Complex in Trinity and Humboldt counties — and from other fires in southern Oregon — is also being funneled down the coast and contributing to the current poor air quality in the Bay Area.

KQED’s Natalia Navarro and Dan Brekke contributed to this story.