With the suffocating smell of smoke and haziness engulfing the sky these last few months, many people have become increasingly aware of the past fires that have spread over our state and many others along with it. These states include California, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Colorado, Arizona, and Montana.
Nearby the Sacramento area, a large fire called the LNU Lighting Complex Fire, which began spreading on August 17, 2020 has since escalated until recent containment. The LNU Lighting Complex fire was a combination of several different fires that combined to form one of the largest fires California has seen. The LNU Lighting Complex Fire is located throughout Napa County, Sonoma County, Solano County, Yolo County, Lake County, and Colusa County. The LNU Lighting Complex fire is 60 miles away from the Sacramento Area. It has burned across 363,220 miles and is now 100% controlled. It has damaged 1,491 structures, destroyed 232 structures, injured 5 people, and resulted in 5 fatalities.
Another large fire close to Sacramento is the Glass Fire. It is mainly located in the Napa and Sonoma counties. It started on September 27 this year. It has burned over 67,200 acres of land over the course of 9 days until reaching recent containment on October 20th. However, 282 structures were damaged and 1,555 structures were destroyed by the Glass fire.
These fires have caused immense amounts of smoke in the air, these past few months. It is important to know where these fires are to determine whether it is safe to go travel to certain places, or go outside at all.
Another thing to be aware of is the air quality. The smoke is a byproduct of the fires and is spread through particles in the air. Many times, it is simple to identify smoke by simply going outside and surveying how the air smells, but it is helpful to have the Air Quality Index (AQI) which is a more accurate way to measure the amount of harmful particles in a certain area. When you look up what the air quality is in your area, (using the AQI) you will see a number. The numbers range from 0 to over 300. There are also colors that correspond with the numbers. Below is a chart showing the colors, AQI number, and the levels of concern associated with them.
Fire data obtained from fire.ca.gov
AQI chart obtained from airnow.gov
Featured image obtained from Flickr
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