Sitting on the western edge of Nevada, the city of Reno is some 100 miles from the Ferguson Fire that's burning near Yosemite National Park and about 160 miles from the Carr Fire in and around Redding, Calif.
Yet the air quality in Reno these days is regarded as unhealthy for sensitive groups, with widespread haze likely through Thursday. In Carson City, another 30 miles south, the air is deemed unhealthy for everyone.
The 17 major wildfires currently raging in California – with the still-growing Mendocino Complex Fire in the northern part of the state especially gaining prominence – are severely affecting the breathability of the air well beyond their immediate areas.
The Environmental Protection Agency’s Airnow.gov website shows about a fifth of the state is being exposed to “unhealthy’’ air – the fourth ranking on a six-stage scale that ranges from “good’’ to “hazardous’’ – and it has drifted into Oregon to the north and Nevada to the east.
To some extent, location may not matter when it comes to the harmful effects the fires are having on the ambient air. Redding, for example, is drawing the same ranking as Carson City.
Top photo courtesy of California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection
