Southern California wildfire smoke and Kern County dust are hurting SLO County air quality
Smoke from Southern California wildfires on Friday began blowing into San Luis Obispo County — and air quality will continue to be affected throughout the weekend.
A new wildfire, the Maria Fire, burned more than 8,000 acres in Ventura County overnight on Thursday, according to the Ventura County Fire Department.
Firefighters are still trying to get the wind-driven fire under control, and smoke from the area, in addition to blowing dust, is creating a visible haze over San Luis Obispo.
Eastern winds on Wednesday began blowing dust from Kern County toward the Central Coast.
Now, the winds have shifted and begun to blow from the southeast, bringing smoke and more dust, said Gary Arcemont, an air quality specialist for the San Luis Obispo County Air Pollution Control District (APCD).
“We are expecting this to transport pollution into our area,” Arcemont said.
The APCD issued an alert, and air quality is forecast to be in the moderate range through the weekend.
For more information, visit slocleanair.org/air-quality/air-forecasting-map.php.
This story was originally published November 1, 2019 at 5:07 PM.
