Unhealthy air returns to North Bay this weekend

Unhealthy air is expected to return this weekend after North Bay residents enjoyed much-needed clear, clean skies this week, as smoke from massive wildfires along the North Coast and Oregon pours back into the area.

Bay Area Air Quality Management District issued a Spare the Air Alert for Saturday, following a two-day pause on the burning ban as healthy air returned to the region. District officials will determine Saturday if the alert needs to be extended, spokesperson Erin DeMerritt said.

Air quality is not expected to deteriorate to the hazardous levels it reached last weekend, but strong onshore winds this week that pushed the smoke out of the region will weaken, allowing smoke to again settle on the ground level, she said. The worst of the Bay Area impacts will be in the eastern spans of the North Bay, specifically in Fairfield and Vallejo, she said.

The most dangerous air quality days may have passed, DeMerritt said, as long as firefighters continue gaining ground on the massive August Complex fires and others that have been sending smoke overhead in the Bay Area.

“We don’t expect (a repeat of last weekend), but you never know,” DeMerritt said. “We’ve had better conditions — cooler weather and it hasn’t been as hot, which is favorable for containment. But while fires are active, it’s hard to predict.”

Before Wednesday, the Spare the Air alert had initially spanned an unprecedented 30 consecutive days after a lightning storm sparked fires across the region in mid-August. Containment on the major complex fires that erupted in Sonoma, Napa and Santa Clara counties have reached 97% or greater.

Many residents took advantage of the fresh air this week, seeking out parks and outdoor activities that had been limited or less inviting with suffocating smoke blanketing the region.

Air quality experts encouraged residents with health vulnerabilities to avoid outside exposure if they smell smoke, and remember that cloth masks used for protection from the coronavirus are not effective for smoke, DeMerritt said.

To check air quality in your area, go here.

You can reach Staff Writer Yousef Baig at 707-521-5390 or yousef.baig@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @YousefBaig.