For the first time in Flagstaff’s history, Arizona regulators issued a high ozone pollution advisory for the city related to the nearby Pocket Fire.
That’s according to Michael Graves, an air quality meteorologist for the state Department of Environmental Quality, or ADEQ.
At the same time, the air quality in Flagstaff has grown worse as smoke wafts over the city.
Smoke from the roughly 15,300-acre fire burning south of the city has contributed to the high ozone levels, Graves says. ADEQ’s ozone advisory applies to Tuesday and Wednesday this week.
Graves tells KNAU wildfire smoke is one ingredient in a pot full of different pollutants — think cars, power plants and chemicals — that can cause ozone levels to rise.
“We've been seeing high ozone levels [for the past] few days, and we can pretty much correlate that it's related to the smoke in the area, because smoke has been elevated in Flagstaff,” says Graves. “Of course, everyone's going to be different in how they're impacted by ozone. Typically, the vulnerable population is going to be more impacted by ozone. If you're a healthy individual, you probably won't notice the ozone. For Flagstaff, this is our very first ozone high pollution advisory that we've ever issued.”
High ozone can lead to coughing and shortness of breath, especially in people who have preexisting conditions like asthma, bronchitis or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Sensitive groups should reduce their time outside, close windows, wear a mask while outdoors and use air purifiers, according to the air quality website IQAir.
That site lists the level of fine particles in the air around Flagstaff as being 1.9 times the World Health Organization’s guideline value as of Tuesday morning.
Graves says the air quality in Flagstaff is bad right now in part because of the Pocket Fire, so residents need to stay alert.
“If you smell smoke, you’re breathing it in,” he says. “You can also look at the visibility, if it's five miles or about visibility, that's when vulnerable populations will want to start limiting their activities outside, it's going to be unhealthy for them. Three miles — you’ll want to stay inside, and then one mile or less, everyone's going to want to stay inside.”
The weather for the next few days will likely keep smoke billowing around Flagstaff, he says, though smoke lifted from some parts of the city on Tuesday.
“We've got an unusual weather pattern that's giving us daily northeasterly winds that are pretty strong for this time of year, and so that's going to be conditions to allow the fire to grow,” Graves says. “We do expect conditions to be similar, [though] every day is different.”
ADEQ’s website on Flagstaff ozone levels says the agency expects gradual improvement beginning on Thursday but will likely remain in the moderate range.
ADEQ also has a page devoted to smoke impacts on air quality from the Pocket Fire that is updated regularly.
