Smoke From Wildfires Chokes N. California

Hundreds of wildfires threw a choking blanket of smoke over Northern California on Thursday, combining with triple-digit temperatures to prompt health warnings and send residents scurrying indoors to escape the foul air.

Schools canceled recess, softball leagues postponed games, summer camps moved indoors, and allergists reported record business as smoke blanketed a 200-mile stretch of the Central Valley from Modesto to Redding.

Gov. Gray Davis declared fire emergencies in four Northern California counties--Tehama, Butte, Tuolumne and Shasta--and ordered the National Guard to assist in fighting the fires that scorched more than 80,000 acres.

A layer of atmospheric pressure acted like a lid over the region, sending smoke from more than 250 mountain blazes cascading into the heart of the valley. Pollution readings for fine particles--the stuff that smoke is made of--soared to five times higher than normal in Sacramento, causing the local air district to issue a special health warning against strenuous outdoor activity.

“I’ve been delivering mail here for 24 years and this is the worst I’ve ever seen it,” said Steve Tessman, a U.S. Postal Service letter carrier, as he prepared to hit the street in downtown Sacramento. “This bothers me a lot more than the rain, the fog, all that stuff.”

Residents reported watery eyes, scratchy throats and difficulty breathing, especially those already suffering from asthma and other lung conditions. At Enloe Medical Center in Chico, five people had been treated and released since Wednesday for respiratory problems caused by the smoke.

“It feels like I have a freight train sitting on my chest,” said Tina Munoz, a severe asthmatic who runs a coffee cart near the state Capitol. “This reminds me of the air when Mount St. Helens blew its top.”

The culprit this week was the scores of wildfires, many sparked by thunderstorms that plowed through the region Monday and scattered 3,700 lightning strikes in a matter of hours.

By Thursday, thousands of acres had been charred, mostly by a dozen large fires in rural Butte, Tehama and Lassen counties, and one person had been killed.

A 36-year-old Butte County woman died Tuesday after she apparently became disoriented by the smoke, took a wrong turn and drove into the flames.

Hundreds of people were evacuated in remote areas across the region, but firefighters beat back blazes that threatened residential areas. Property damage has been minor--so far just an uninhabited cabin and a few other small structures. One fire closed California 120 into Yosemite National Park and other blazes burned thousands of acres in remote sections of the park.

More than 4,000 state and federal firefighters battled the wildfires, along with 1,400 recruits flown in from as far away as Tennessee. Scores of wildfires also raged in Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Idaho. Firefighters were gearing up for the weekend as weather forecasters predicted a combination of hot, dry weather, renewed lightning storms and gusty winds.

“The concern right now is we’re going to be hit by another wave of fires,” said Karen Terrill of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

On Thursday, the high temperatures combined with the brush fires prompted regional electricity regulators to declare a Stage 1 emergency in Northern California, asking customers to voluntarily reduce energy use. The brush fires had limited the ability of utilities to draw power from the Pacific Northwest. High temperatures--which reached 105 degrees in Redding and 99 degrees in Sacramento--fueled heavy demand for air conditioning.

But the most visible problem for most people was the air.

In Sacramento, smog spiked in the very unhealthful range Wednesday and was only slightly better Thursday. In contrast, Los Angeles has yet to have a first-stage smog alert all year.

An even bigger worry was the smoky particulates clouding the skies, which settled like a fog over vast areas. In Sacramento County, the normal level is 10 micrograms per cubic meter. About 8 a.m. Thursday, the smoke drove it to 144, clouding views of the Capitol dome from just across the street.

That was nothing compared to Butte County, which was hit by dozens of fires. Lawrence Odle, director of the county’s Air Quality Management District, said the particulate reading briefly hit 800 early Thursday. A north wind continued to push the smoke deeper into the valley.

Forecasters said they expect the smoke to hang around through the weekend, until a new weather system arrives early next week and blows the dirty air away.

At school districts just starting for the year in Sacramento County, administrators reacted to the air alert by switching to rainy-day schedules. Recess and physical education classes were being held in classrooms, lunch in multipurpose rooms. Football teams at several area high schools were headed into the gym for practice.

Doctors were flooded with queries from concerned patients.

“I’ve never had as many calls in my life in the 25 years I’ve lived here,” said Dr. Eric Gershwin, head of the UC Davis Medical Center’s Department of Allergy and Rheumatology.

Most were asking for medication or advice on dealing with the smoke, particularly those with asthma, emphysema and bronchitis. Gershwin was advising patients to stay indoors, wear paper masks if they had to go outside and avoid sitting in cars on freeways.

In downtown Sacramento, Lizzie Wolf and Rita Spillane refused to let the miserable air beat them down. Instead of hunkering inside an air-conditioned office, they braved the heat and smoke at an outdoor cafe. Spillane had biked to work, figuring that in her own small way she had helped reduce the smog.

“This is a terrible, horrible day. It’s unbelievable,” said Spillane, a deputy district attorney. “It’s like sitting around a campfire too long.

At a nearby high-rise under construction, Bob Figone said the smoke got thicker the higher he went in the 26-story building he is helping to erect. If conditions got any worse, he said, he planned to order his colleagues down to lower floors or pull them off the job completely.

“This is a real bad deal,” he said. “You can see different layers of smoke, and it feels like it’s about 102. You smell bad, people are getting headaches. It’s just terrible.”

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Bad Air Day

Smoke from more than 250 wildfires burning in Northern California has caused pollution readings for particulate matter to jump five times the normal level. Ozone levels have risen to unhealthy levels in the Central Valley.

California Fires

Most of the fires were sparked by 3,700 lightning strikes from thunderstorms that moved across the northern part of the state. High winds and storms may develop in the next few days, possibly worsening the fires and making them more difficult for firefighters to contain.

Central Valley Air Quality

Ozone levels improved Thursday in Sacramento, though air remained visibly dirty with particulates.