Thomas Fire: Air Quality
We are feeling the effects of the Thomas Fire in Santa Barbara County and wish our neighbors, friends, family and Cottage Health employees in Ventura County safety in regards to this local emergency.
From Ventura County Air Pollution Control:
VCAPCD Smoke Advisory for Tuesday December 5th 2017
The Thomas Fire started on the evening of Monday, December 4th, 2017 near Highway 150 north of Santa Paula. As of 10 a.m., it has now burned 45,500 acres and is burning structures in the city of Ventura and near Highway 33. This fire is wind driven from a strong Santa Ana wind event and is causing heavy smoke in the plume downwind of the fire in and around the cities of Ventura, Santa Paula, and Ojai. The offshore winds will continue for the next two days and may shift to onshore for brief periods overnight allowing for smoke to move into inland areas.
Additionally, there are now two other fires. The Creek Fire, in the Sylmar area has burned 4,000 acres as of 10 a.m. The Rye Fire in Santa Clarita has burned 200 acres as of 11 a.m. Smoke from these fires is impacting Ventura County.
Smoke impacts from the devastating fires will be widespread. Visibility may be limited in some areas due to smoke and dust. Air quality should be considered unhealthy in areas directly impacted by smoke. If you are in an area directly impacted by the smoke, please exercise extreme caution and avoid vigorous outdoor or indoor exertion. People with respiratory or heart disease, the elderly, and children should remain indoors. Run your air conditioner if you have one. Keep the filter clean and fresh air intake closed. Close all windows and doors that lead outside to prevent bringing additional smoke inside. If this is not an option or it becomes extremely hot inside, please seek alternate shelter.
For information regarding the fire, evacuation notices, road closures…etc…please check readyventuracounty.org or the Twitter feed for the Ventura County Fire Department Public Information Officer (@vcfd_pio). Ventura County APCD currently has intermittent power. Please check our Twitter feed for the latest updates (@vcapcd).