Air quality alerts issued as wildfire smoke spreads across Pennsylvania
More than 60 years ago, Nat King Cole sang about the lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer, and on Thursday the emphasis was definitely on the hazy.
All of Pennsylvania was under a Code Red Air Action Quality Day thanks to wildfire smoke from Canada and Minnesota spreading across the Midwest and Northeast. Because of the Code Red designation, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) urged all residents to limit what they did outdoors, and that children, elderly people and individuals with respiratory illnesses to avoid prolonged or intense activities.
A hazy pall hung over much of the region on Thursday afternoon. In Bridgeville, the haze was accompanied by a smoky odor.
The Code Red designation also meant that residents and businesses were urged to avoid using gas-powered garden and lawn equipment, not use fireplaces or wood stoves and avoid openly burning leaves.
This is the second time in recent years that the Pittsburgh region and other cities in the Midwest and Northeast have been affected by Canadian wildfires – in June 2023, Pittsburgh and surrounding areas were blanketed in haze from fires that raged in several Canadian provinces. However, the National Weather Service in Moon Township said Thursday that the impact of the fires in the Pittsburgh region was not expected to be as severe as it was three years ago.
The National Weather Service also said the haze likely reduced the day’s high temperatures by a couple of degrees. The agency said “near surface smoke is expected to linger until more flow or rain clears it out.”
It was not clear Thursday afternoon whether the DEP would designate Friday a Code Red or ratchet it down to Code Orange. On Code Orange days, the air is deemed unhealthy for sensitive groups, which would include children, older adults, people who work outdoors and those with pre-existing lung or heart conditions. They are being advised to confine activities to the morning, make them less intense and take breaks.
Also, the Allegheny County Health Department issued what it called a Mon Valley Watch on both Thursday and Friday, which mandates that companies in the area that contribute to particulate pollution must ensure that their equipment is functioning properly.
The DEP is encouraging people to check www.airnow.gov for conditions.
While the air quality in the Pittsburgh region has not been good because of the wildfires, it has still been better in comparison to Detroit, Cleveland, or Toledo, Ohio, where the air has been deemed hazardous and all residents have been advised to stay indoors and reduce activities.