Air quality advisory due to wildfire smoke extended to Saturday
SAN FRANCISCO -- Smoke from wildfires burning in Northern California and Oregon has prompted air district officials to extend an air quality advisory through Saturday.
Officials had already issued an advisory due to wildfire smoke for Friday, noting that pollutant levels were not expected to exceed the national health standard.
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On Friday morning, the district announced that advisory was extended through Saturday. Bay Area residents might see smoky, hazy skies and the smell of smoke may be present.
However, air quality is still not expected to be unhealthy. Residents who smell smoke are advised to take steps to avoid exposure.
Real-time air-quality monitoring is available on the BAAQMD website. The Purple Air website also provides localize air-quality data, as does the AirNow fire and smoke map.
Much of the smoke is being produced by the massive Mosquito Fire currently burning in Placer and El Dorado counties.
Overnight, the blaze grew at least 23,000 acres and had zero containment. The fire is burning in the Tahoe National Forest. Evacuations have been ordered in both counties.
The Nevada Division of Environmental Protection warned the Reno area that air quality could be very unhealthy to hazardous due to smoke from the Mosquito Fire 100 miles. A massive cloud of smoke was hovering over the Lake Tahoe area, darkening the skies there.
The fire was producing huge pyrocumulus plumes as it continued its explosive growth Thursday. There were reports that the fire had grown over 5,500 acres just in the space of a few hours.
