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Mucky air could linger through Fourth

BY JOE BOESEN, Californian staff writer
e-mail:jboesenr@bakersfield.com | Wednesday, Jun 25 2008 11:07 PM

Last Updated: Thursday, Jun 26 2008 7:31 AM

The air outside is foul and isn’t expected to get better anytime soon.

TO CHECK ON THE AIR:

Air-quality forecasts are available by county at 4:30 p.m. each day at valleyair.org or by calling 1-800 SMOG INFO (766-4463).

ADVICE FROM THE AIR DISTRICT:

• Residents should avoid areas where they can see particulates or smell smoke.

• Older adults and children should avoid prolonged exposure, strenuous activities or heavy exertion.

• Limit emissions by carpooling, taking public transportation, postponing unnecessary car trips and using gas grills instead of charcoal.

LOCAL FIREFIGHTERS DEPLOYED

The Kern County Fire Department has 85 personnel of varying ranks at several fires throughout Northern California, officials said Wednesday evening.

Their work includes firefighting, protecting structures, logistics, communications, emergency medical technicians, food services and air operations.

To ensure fire protection here, the department won’t send out any more personnel now, they said.

This is a breakdown of how many personnel are at each fire at 1 p.m. Wednesday:

Indians Fire: 19

Oliver Fire: 18

Clover Fire: 14

Canyon Complex: 12

Madera Staging: 8

Lime Complex: 7

Shu Lightening Complex: 4

California Multi-Agency Coordination System Operations Center: 1

Basin Complex: 1

Yuba River Complex: 1

More video from Bakersfield.com

Photos:

Photo by Casey Christie / The Californian

A pedestrian, left, and many vehicles travel north and south on Oswell Street with the smoggy skyline barely visible to the south, Wednesday afternoon.

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• Air regulators approve cleanup plan
• Bakersfield again No. 2 for smog
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• Our bad air could be bad for the brain, too

Links:

• California wildfires maps

High ozone levels typical of summer, combined with particulate matter from several wildfires, have produced a “double whammy” of poor air quality, said Brenda Turner, spokeswoman for the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District.

There is a fear air quality will remain poor until July 4, when blasted fireworks provide even higher levels of particulate matter.

Exposure to particulate matter can aggravate lung disease, cause asthma attacks or acute bronchitis and increase risk to respiratory infections, according to the air district.

The smoke is from several fires, including the Oliver Fire in Mariposa County, the Clover Fire near Sequoia National Park and the Indians Fire at Los Padres National Forest.

The fires — to the east, north and west along the coast — are causing a “hodge podge” situation, where there is no singular source of particulates, said Shawn Ferreria, air quality specialist with the district. All but the Indian Fire started this weekend.

“I could not give you an end time at this point,” Ferreria said of the poor air quality. “Until those fires are extinguished, this could continue.”

The Indians fire, burning 10 miles west of King City and south of Monterey, started June 8 by a runaway cooking fire, said Reynaldo Rivera, spokesman for the Los Padres National Forest. That fire stretched about 58,000 acres and was 75 percent contained as of about 4 p.m. Wednesday, Rivera said.

The Oliver Fire was 20 percent contained and the Clover Fire was 10 percent contained as of 8 a.m. Wednesday, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Wind patterns are expected to change this weekend, blowing smoke from the Yosemite area away from Kern County, according to Gary Sanger, meteorologist with the National Weather Service. But we may then get hit with smoke from the fires around Los Padres, he said.

“In the long term, it would take getting the fires extinguished” for air quality to improve, he said.

If the fires haven’t been extinguished by July 4, air quality could shoot down as fireworks are shot up.

“The Fourth of July is the biggest particulate event of the summer,” Turner said. “You will see it goes along at pretty normal then at 8 p.m., it shoots up and stays really high until 1 a.m.”

It could push bad air readings to levels we haven’t seen in the last couple years, she said.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger asked Californians Wednesday to refrain from shooting off personal fireworks on the Fourth of July to prevent forest fires.