Growing air quality concerns in Northeast amidst raging wildfires

AccuWeather

AccuWeather's Ali Reid reports poor air quality continues to be a concern for much of the Northeast as the risk of brush fires continues to be high due to dry conditions, low humidity and gusty winds.

Transcript

00:00Wildfires continue to burn across New Jersey, New York, and really the entire tri-state area.

00:06People are now dealing with smoky and hazy conditions and dangerous air quality levels to go along with it.

00:12Air quality in New York City spiked to very unhealthy over the weekend,

00:17causing major concern for anyone with heart or lung conditions, as well as for young children and older adults.

00:23Now some health experts are reflecting back to last year's impacts from the Canadian wildfires.

00:28And I was thinking that it was eerily similar and obviously much closer to home.

00:33The patients with pre-existing lung disease are at a higher risk, specifically asthma and COPD,

00:38where the airway is somewhat reactive and sensitive when the air quality isn't as good, when smoke is heavy in the air.

00:44New Jersey remains under a red flag warning due to persistent drought conditions, which have made the region a tinderbox.

00:51The Jennings Creek wildfire in Passaic County has burned over 3,500 acres.

00:56In Gloucester County, air quality conditions got so bad over the weekend

01:00that it prompted the emergency department to open a shelter for residents.

01:04We thought it would be in the best interest, hey, let's offer a shelter out for those that are in need

01:10to make sure they have a safe place to go and get away from that environment if they need to.

01:16Because of these factors, officials are urging caution.

01:19Stay indoors if you can, you know, closing the windows and actually running your AC unit or your fan

01:26to kind of clear out the air to get some good air circulating through.

01:30If you like to exercise outdoors, you should consider exercising indoors.

01:35And then if you must go outside again, limit your activity, let's say, to 30 minutes.

01:40Don't do prolonged outside activities.

01:43The air quality forecast overall remains poor for much, if not all, of the northeast.

01:49The fire risk is expected to continue Tuesday as humidity lowers and the breeze picks up.

01:54For AccuWeather, I'm Allie Reed.

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