Pedro Fire smoke could bother some Stanislaus County residents. How to protect yourself
People with respiratory issues should prepare for smoke from the wildfire near Don Pedro Reservoir.
It is heaviest Wednesday in Mariposa County, the National Weather Service said, but light smoke could drift into Stanislaus County in the late afternoon and evening.
The Stanislaus conditions are “moderate,” according to the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District. On such days, a state website said, “extremely sensitive children and adults should refrain from strenuous outdoor activities.”
The scale goes all the way to “hazardous,” when everybody would be advised to avoid outdoor exertion.
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has further advice for the varying levels of smoke:
- Close doors and windows if even light smoke is a nuisance.
- Avoid vacuuming, frying food and other tasks that could add pollutants.
- To clear indoor smoke, place a new filter on the air conditioner and run it on “recirculate” mode. DO NOT use swamp coolers or whole-house fans, which can worsen the problem.
- Use a CARB-certified air cleaner if the risk is especially high.
- Wear a mask rated at N-95, and put it on correctly, in the same conditions.
Stanislaus can have its own wildfires, but it has less of the dense forest and brush that fuels intense blazes elsewhere. The Pedro Fire is just over the county line, reported at 2,727 acres as of Wednesday morning. Cal Fire had containment at just 7%.
Stanislaus also can get smoke from fires in the Coast Ranges and other parts of the Sierra Nevada. The largest right now, the Park Fire near Chico, has not sent smoke this far south, the weather service said.
Fire season still has a few months to go and is usually ended by autumn storms. They came especially late in 2018, when the Camp Fire in Butte County erupted on Nov. 8. The smoke threat was enough to postpone the Turkey Trot, a Thanksgiving morning foot race in Tuolumne River Regional Park.
Valley residents also have to contend year-round with motor-vehicle exhaust and with dust and other effects of farming.
This story was originally published July 31, 2024 at 12:57 PM.
