City Health Officer Anissa Davis warns Long Beach residents about potential unhealthy air quality due to fires burning near the cities of Irvine and Fullerton, which are producing heavy smoke. All individuals are urged to exercise caution and avoid unnecessary outdoor activities. The City’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Marine has canceled all field permits, Mobile Recess and outdoor activities for afterschool camp programs until further notice.
Smoke and ash rising into the atmosphere may be visible over portions of Long Beach and surrounding areas, potentially creating unhealthy conditions. All individuals are urged to exercise caution and avoid unnecessary outdoor activities in any area directly impacted by smoke and ash. This includes areas where residents can see or smell smoke. In any area impacted by smoke, residents should take the following precautions:
• Avoid any vigorous outdoor or indoor exertion.
• Remain indoors, especially for individuals with respiratory or heart disease, pregnant women, older adults and children.
• Keep windows and doors closed or seek alternate shelter.
• Run your air conditioner if you have one.
• Change the standard air-conditioner filter to a medium or high efficiency filter. If you have a wall-unit or window-unit air conditioner, set it to “recirculate.”
• Avoid the use of a swamp cooler or whole-house fan to prevent bringing additional smoke inside, if possible.
• Avoid indoor or outdoor wood-burning appliances, including fireplaces, to avoid worsening the health effects of wildfire smoke.
• For more detailed information about air quality related to the wildfires, visit the South Coast Air Quality Management District’s website at aqmd.gov or view a map of local real-time air quality data. If you would like to sign up for air quality forecasts, subscribe by visiting airalerts.org.
The Silverado Fire began early Monday and spread quickly in Orange County’s Santiago Canyon area, leading to evacuations. A brush fire near the City of Fullerton also led to evacuations on Monday.
