Smoky skies impacting daily life for some North Bay residents

Many residents noticed the smoke all throughout the Bay Area on Wednesday. This round of smoke has caught some by surprise.

Susanna Ask and her daughter finally decided to get some outdoor time Wednesday night. The smoke drifted in Tuesday, and it forced her to cancel some of her outdoor plans. 

"I didn't expect the smoke to be coming. And I was planning on taking her to the park and I had to do a quick change of plans and do some indoor activities," Ask said.

The smoke was visible all over Marin County. Ask said she definitely felt the impact of the smoky air. 

"It kind of starts to smell like campfires and it's just getting a little bit thicker. Like, you can't see as far. You start feeling like you can't breathe as well," she said.

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For the most part, the smoke did not stop people from carrying on with their after-school activities. Kids were seen playing baseball and soccer. Some parents though took a proactive approach to keep their kids safe.

"I pulled my daughter out of swim school for a day," said Mike from Marin.

Other parents tried to keep their kids indoors and some were seen wearing a mask. But for North Bay residents, this is nothing like they've seen in the past.

"We've all dealt with much worse in the past. I don't think anybody is really freaking out because we are lucky this is all we have for the year," Duncan L. said.

"This has been such a welcome relief. I mean, I'm so happy that I haven't had to use air filters at all. So, I would rather have them and not need them," Ask added.

Public health officers said if you're going to wear a mask, to put on an N95 because the particles in wildfire smoke are so small. The smoke is expected to clear out by Friday.

Find the latest air quality readings in their part of the region by visiting:

AirNow - fire.airnow.gov

IQAir - www.iqair.com

Bay Area Air Quality Management District - baaqmd.gov

Northern Sonoma County Air Pollution Control District - nosocoair.org/

Purple Air - purpleair.com