Officials in swaths of California say they haven’t observed any air quality impacts due to smoke from the Hawk Fire, which has burned thousands of acres near the Nevada-California border.
Forward progress has stopped for the blaze that began on Aug. 22, Operations Section Chief Matt Armantrout said in an incident update on Tuesday, Aug. 25. The Hawk Fire is over 15,000 acres, destroying dozens of homes and leaving several people injured, including firefighters, according to the Reno Gazette Journal, which is part of the USA TODAY Network.
Smoke impacts are unlikely for the Lake Tahoe area and the Sierra Nevada in California, according to National Weather Service Reno office forecaster Tony Fuentes. The Hawk Fire is near Reno, Nevada. That’s because
any additional smoke generated from the fire would drift off into Nevada as opposed to California due to prevailing wind patterns, Fuentes said.
The Northern Sierra Air Quality Management District, which serves Nevada, Sierra and Plumas counties — regions west and northwest of the fire — didn’t see any impacts from smoke because this region pushes winds to the east, Director Julie Hunter said, meaning that smoke would be pushed into Nevada.
Is Hawk Fire impacting Lake Tahoe? Lake Tahoe air quality for Tuesday
El Dorado County, home to South Lake Tahoe, hasn’t been impacted by the Hawk Fire, said Rania Serieh, air pollution control officer with the El Dorado County Air Quality Management District. Serieh told the USA TODAY Network in the morning of Aug. 25 that the air quality management district hasn’t observed any smoke.
Lake Tahoe’s northern reaches, at least on California’s side, are in Placer County. Heather Selvester, smoke management coordinator with the Placer County Air Pollution Control District, said they’ve not seen any impacts and, based on the NWS forecast, don’t expect any in the coming days.
The NWS Reno office said that while smoke from the Hawk Fire may persist in the Reno-Sparks metro area on Aug. 25, the impact may decrease due to breezy conditions and improved ventilation.
The air quality in South Lake Tahoe is “good” on the Air Quality Index as of the afternoon of Aug. 25, which means that “air quality is satisfactory,” and that “air pollution poses little or no risk.”
The Air Quality Index is divided into six categories. Each category has a description corresponding to its level of concern, according to AirNow.
Much of the air quality surrounding Lake Tahoe is reporting as “good” as of the afternoon of Aug. 25. Tahoe City has an AQI of “moderate,” which means air quality is acceptable, but those who are unusually sensitive to air pollution may be at risk.
What is the air quality near me?
People can check the air quality index of their area at airnow.gov.
Paris Barraza is a reporter covering Los Angeles and Southern California for the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at pbarraza@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Is smoke from Nevada's Hawk Fire affecting California air quality?
