Smoke Plume Drifts into Bay Space as Inland Temps Soar; Spare the Air Alert Issued – CBS San Francisco
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) – Changing winds pulled a large cloud of smoke from the raging forest fires in Caldor and Monument over the San Francisco Bay Area early Friday, throwing a haze over the sunrise and setting off a spare-the-air alarm.
As of Friday morning, the Monument Fire, which burned in Trinity County, was on 157,557 acres and was 20 percent contained. The Caldor Fire, meanwhile, continued to rage near Lake Tahoe along Highway 50 and had grown to 143,951 acres.
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Southwest winds have fueled the flames near Kyburz and Strawberry and pushed a thick layer of smoke over the Lake Tahoe Basin.
According to AirNow.gov, a partnership of state, state and local aviation authorities, residents and visitors to South Lake Tahoe and Tahoe City have endured some of the worst air pollution in the country for several days.
Just south of Tahoe, Rick Nelson and his wife Diane had planned to hold a weekend wedding at Fallen Leaf Lake, where his daughter and her fiancé had met. However, the smoke caused most of the community to leave. The sun was an eerie blood orange and the swimmers and boats in the lake were obscured by mist on Tuesday.
In the end, the Nelsons spent two days arranging the relocation of the wedding from Glacier Lake several hours southwest to the San Francisco Bay Area.
“Everyone is trying to escape the smoke. And I think it’s going to be a reality for us, unfortunately, ”said Diane Nelson. “I just think the smoke and fires got bigger, hotter and faster.”
Now these winches are turning. The National Weather Service said dry north winds are developing that will turn the cloud west and over the Bay Area.
The Bay Area Air Quality Management District issued an air quality recommendation for Friday and Saturday on Thursday. Late on Friday morning, the advisory was upgraded to a spare-the-air alarm for both days.
Air quality is predicted in the Air Quality Index as “unhealthy for sensitive groups” in most of the Bay Area, with spots “unhealthy” at higher altitudes.
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Burning wood, logs, or other solid fuels both indoors and outdoors is prohibited during the spare-the-air warnings.
“With wildfires continuing to burn in California, conditions are changing very quickly,” said Jack Broadbent, executive officer of the Air District. “Wildfire smoke is unpredictable. When forest fires are active, it is important to remain vigilant and check the air quality to protect your health from smoke. “
Residents can see the latest air quality readings at baaqmd.gov/highs or the AirNow Fire and Smoke Map at fire.airnow.gov. The independently operated air monitoring website PurpleAir.com also provides localized air quality measurements.
To find out when a spare-the-air alert is in effect, residents can register for text alerts by sending the word “START” to 817-57, register for email AirAlerts at sparetheat.org, 1 Call (800) HELP-AIR, download the Spare the Air app or connect with Spare the Air on Facebook or Twitter.
Temperatures will also rise in the next 72 hours. The weather service has issued a heat warning for the counties of Mendocino and Lake for Friday.
Locally in the Bay Area, three-digit projections were planned for many inland areas, including the communities east of the Caldecott Tunnel.
Rising temperatures and low humidity will continue to suck moisture from the bushes and trees in the drought-ravaged region, increasing the risk of fire.
“The warming and drying trend will quickly dry out the fine fuels in the next 1-3 days, with the values of the energy release component expected to slowly increase again towards the 97th percentile,” said the weather service. “The hills stay warm and dry without the humidity recovering over the weekend.”
The energy release component is used to measure the likelihood that an ember could ignite a fire.
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© Copyright 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All rights reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
