Air quality alerts issued as wildfire smoke spreads across Pennsylvania
All of Pennsylvania was placed under a Code Purple air quality alert for Friday as wildfire smoke spread south from Canada and Minnesota.
Under a Code Purple alert, everyone is urged to avoid long or intense outdoor activities, and children, older adults, and those with respiratory illnesses should avoid all outdoor activities.
On Thursday, more than 60 years after Nat King Cole sang about the lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer, the emphasis was definitely on the hazy.
All of Pennsylvania was under a Code Red Air Action Quality Day as wildfire smoke spread 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 Thursday afternoon. The haze was accompanied by a pronounced smoky odor in much of the region.
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.
By late afternoon, the DEP had issued a Code Purple alert for counties north of Pittsburgh, including Butler and Lawrence, which means the air is considered very unhealthy. It had not yet issued a similar alert for Washington, Greene or Fayette counties.
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. The National Weather Service in Moon Township 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.”
The American Lung Association also advised people with lung diseases or heart conditions to stay inside as much as possible, with doors, windows and fireplace dampers shut. They also said that air conditioners should be placed on the recirculation setting to keep from pulling outside air into a room, and air conditioning in vehicles should be put on the “recirculate” setting.
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.