The smoke from the Point Fire in Sonoma County has led to a Spare the Air alert across parts of the Bay Area on Monday.
The smoke was felt as far away as San Francisco. Parts of Vallejo were in the moderate air quality range, but it got worse the closer that people got to Sonoma County.
People who have health conditions were definitely dealing with the impact.
Petaluma resident Michelle Novotny described what it’s been like the past two days as smoke from the Point Fire has made its way to her home. Novotny said she has chronic asthma and is very sensitive to smoke.
“We can definitely feel it. There’s a tightness in my chest and kind like of that the burning that happens when you’re smelling smoke,” she said. “I’m not able to go out and walk my dogs when it’s like this and to get outside. We try to avoid it as best as we can.”
The entire Bay Area was under a Spare the Air alert on Monday as the Point Fire burned more than 1,000 acres in Sonoma County.
“There are very tiny particles that you can breathe in, and that go into your lungs, as well as other things that are burning, other ingredients to the burning object,” said Ralph Borrmann with the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.
The Bay Area Air Quality Management District said the smoke was starting to dissipate as firefighters increased their containment of the fire. But they added children, the elderly and those with health conditions should take precautions.
“If you’re smelling smoke, you’re probably breathing it in, which means you should sort of get out of the area and go indoors. Shut your windows and doors behind you, put on the air conditioning to recirculate if you are using air conditioning,” Borrmann said.
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That’s precisely what Novotny is doing. She said she is staying indoors, using her inhaler and trying to wait it out. She worries that such a big fire this early in the season may signal a busy and smokey summer is on tap.
“You expect this in August and September and in October but generally not June,” Novotny said.
