Smoke blowing in from wildfires in California, Washington and Idaho last week may have made Tooele County air quality unhealthy for residents, a state official said.
The Environmental Protection Agency classified the air in the county last week as “unhealthy for sensitive groups,” with a higher-than-normal number of particulates in the air, said Bo Call, section manager of air monitoring for the Utah Division of Air Quality.
“This time of year, we would expect to see single-digit particulate unless there’s a windstorm or smoke,” he said.
According to the EPA Air Quality Index, the 24-hour particulate average was measured between 17.2 micrograms per cubic meter of air and 36.8 micrograms per cubic meter of air Wednesday through Saturday. The highest number of particulates were recorded on Thursday and Friday.
In the early part of last week, the wind blew smoke into Tooele County from wildfires in California. Near the end of the week, the wind shifted from the north, carrying smoke from wildfires in Washington and Idaho, Call said.
“[Currently,] the wind has shifted from the south and has started to clean out the air,” he said. “But even after it cleans out, if the wind shifts back from the west or north, the smoke will blow back in.”
Call said people didn’t need to worry about the air quality unless they felt physically bothered by it. He recommended people remember two principles for staying healthy: First, “it can look a lot worse than it is. Don’t just assume it’s bad just because it looks gunky out there.” But if residents are impaired by coughing or feel they can’t get a good breath, he said they should stop what they’re doing and go indoors.
Second, Call warned that a swamp cooler isn’t a good air filter, and smoke could still enter buildings cooled by swamp coolers.
“Anybody that has central AC, when the smoke is like this, they ought to close their windows and use their air conditioning,” he added.
Tim Wagner, representing the Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment, said the air quality affected people more than the state’s “unhealthy for sensitive groups” label let on.
Wagner is not a doctor, but he earned a bachelor’s of science degree in Environmental Science from Utah State University and directed the Utah Chapter of the Sierra Club’s Smart Energy Campaign for four years.
“Despite what the state’s saying, this air is really bad for anybody. The smoke just makes it that much worse,” he said. “There’s no doubt that the particles from smoke, whether it’s from wildfires or fireplaces is really bad. It gets in your lungs. … People need to be really careful with how much exertion they do outdoors.”
Wagner also encouraged people to get an air filter to reduce exposure in their homes.
As of Monday afternoon, the EPA Air Quality Index classified Tooele as “moderate,” which is one category lower than “unhealthy for sensitive groups.”
According to the National Weather Service, the wind will continue blowing from a south-southeast direction until Wednesday evening.
