Ukiah residents flock to fresh coastal air

Ukiah’s air quality has gone from bad to worse, grounding planes, canceling weekend events and sending residents fleeing to the coast for a breath of fresh air.

“I’m pretty sure we are the worst spot in the nation,” said Mendocino County Air Pollution Control Officer Chris Brown.

Air pollution levels overnight Thursday were more than 100 times normal, he said.

“We got hammered,” he said.

Thursday night the level of cancer causing particles in the air rose to 594 micrograms per cubic meter — well beyond the hazard zone and the highest level measured since day two of the lightning-ignited fires, when particulate levels reached 800 micrograms per cubic meter, Brown said.

Ukiah’s average level for the particles, called PM2.5, last year was 4.7.

The ultra fine particles are more dangerous than larger ones because they’re able to travel deeper into the lungs, causing respiratory illness and potentially triggering cancer, he said.

During the day Friday, the particulate levels hovered between 230 micrograms per cubic meter and 280 micrograms per cubic meter, Brown said.

The pollution has been so bad it broke a portable air monitor located in Willits and clogged the filters of the monitors in Ukiah, Brown said.