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Officials: Lake County air quality to remain poor for rest of August
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lake County Air Quality Management District said the county’s air basin is expected to continue to have poor air quality for the rest of the month as a result of the Mendocino Complex.
Air Pollution Control Officer Doug Gearhart said a “very unhealthy” air quality alert is ongoing for the portions of Clearlake and all of the Northshore as a result of the heavy smoke from the burn areas.
He said there also is the potential for “unhealthy” to “hazardous” conditions for those same areas, depending on wind and fire activity.
All other areas of Lake County are forecast to have unhealthy to very unhealthy conditions based on the wind and fire conditions, Gearhart said.
The poor air quality conditions are expected to impact the county through August or until the Ranch fire and other regional fires are out, he said.
He said current particulate levels in Lake County are in the range from unhealthy to very unhealthy, which is expected to continue depending on the weather pattern.
When particulate reaches unhealthy levels, everyone needs to take steps to protect themselves from exposure, Gearhart said.
He said all areas of the county may experience unhealthy to hazardous air quality as smoke settles into the basin in the overnight and morning hours.
Localized areas in the hazardous air quality range also can be expected until the local fires are contained, he said.
Cal Fire said the Mendocino Complex is expected to be fully contained on Sept. 1.