The EPA has warned that the air in some areas may be hazardous to breathe.
As the country’s deadliest wildfire in a century burns through Northern California, smoke-clogged air is flooding into communities across cities throughout the region, forcing people indoors and prompting health warnings.
The Camp Fire has so far killed at least 76 people, turned the town of Paradise into rubble, and left more than 1,300 people unaccounted for a week after it sparked in Butte County.
The blaze has brought unhealthy air conditions to Northern California as thick, sooty smoke moves slow enough to stall over coastal mountains, instead funneling through the Golden Gate. There is also no ocean breeze to help clear the air.
The Environmental Protection Agency’s Air Quality Index was measured at 164, or “unhealthy” on Sunday morning for parts of the greater San Francisco area. The index warns that people with heart or lung disease, older adults, and children “should avoid prolonged or heavy exertion,” adding that “everyone else should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion.”
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