Norwalkers warned: Air quality is unhealthy

NORWALK, Conn. — Mayor Harry Rilling issued two air alerts Wednesday, upgrading the severity indicator from “red” to “purple” as the effects of the ongoing Canadian wildfires worsened.

Residents, especially those with underlying conditions who may be at greater risk from the current air quality, are asked to protect themselves and to limit outdoor activity through Thursday morning.

“The CT Department of Public Health (CT DPH) also advises that closing windows and doors will help keep smoke out of the home and reminds residents that wearing a KN95 or N95 mask is effective at filtering smoke. CT DPH suggests residents consider wearing them while outdoors until the air quality improves,” a City news release said.

The National Weather Service’s air quality alert for Fairfield County is in effect until midnight Thursday.

“From Maryland to the Canadian capital, a mammoth-size cloud of smoke spewed by Quebec’s wildfires has forced children to stay indoors, grounded flights in New York City and left millions of residents at risk of breathing unhealthy air,” CNN reported at 8:49 p.m.

“Approximately 128 million people were under air quality alerts because of wildfire smoke and ozone in the U.S. Wednesday night. For smoke alone, around 100 million were under alerts across 16 states,” NBC News reported.

AirNow.gov reported at 9 p.m. that Norwalk had an air quality index (AQI) of 312, into the “maroon” range, worse than the red or purple indexes that prompted Rilling’s alerts. It was rated at 309 at 10 p.m. The air, at this writing, is rated as being “hazardous.”

“Everyone should stay indoors and reduce activity levels,” AirNow.gov advises.

Norwalk Public Schools cancelled all outdoor activities Wednesday, including outdoor field trips, the City news release said.

Anyone with asthma or heart and lung conditions should avoid outdoor exercise, the City said.

“The CT Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) stated that when air levels exceed Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups (USG) for an extended period, there is an increased likelihood that individuals in sensitive groups will develop respiratory symptoms, that aggravation of heart or lung disease could occur, and persons with cardiopulmonary disease and the elderly could experience premature mortality,” the City said. “Additionally, DEEP stated that children and people with asthma or other lung disease are most at risk for experiencing these symptoms and that active children and adults, and people with impaired lung function or cardiovascular disease, should limit prolonged outdoor exertion.”

“Major wildfires are still burning across Quebec, most of which are out of control,” DEEP states on its website. “The wildfire smoke from Quebec is being funneled into Connecticut because of a stalled upper-level low-pressure system over Nova Scotia. With this weather pattern, winds at all levels of the atmosphere are from the north and northwest and these winds will persist through Wednesday.”

At 5:45 p.m., NancyOnNorwalk received a CodeRed alert from Rilling, relaying the information in the news release. He said, “Since quality levels are likely to fluctuate in the coming hours and days, we recommend that everyone continues to monitor the air quality by visiting the air quality index at airnow.gov.”

Ironically, June 7 is Clean Air Day in Canada. “Clean Air Day was first celebrated in 1999 when Canada declared it an annual celebration during Canadian Environment Week,” the Canadian government said on its website.

It said, “With the early onset of wildfire season this year, many of us have witnessed how air pollution can impact both urban and rural communities. Take time today to learn about the impacts of air pollution on our health and what you can do to protect it, as well as what we can individually do to reduce our own emissions for cleaner air.”

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