The air quality alert is for today through Thursday in Clark, Darke, Greene, Miami, Montgomery and Preble counties and for today through Friday for Butler and Warren counties, issued by the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission, Regional Air Pollution Control Agency and Southwest Ohio Air Quality Agency. The Ohio EPA has also issued its own statewide Air Quality Advisory for Wednesday, though it added that particulates in the air will be elevated through Thursday.
The air quality index forecast is 108. The air quality index reached 124 on Wednesday, according to RAPCA.
Any reading of 101 or higher is considered “unhealthy for sensitive groups,” including children, older adults and people with cardiac or respiratory disease.
Credit: Jim Noelker
Credit: Jim Noelker
People in those groups should reduce prolonged time outdoors or heavy exertion due to the high levels of fine particles in the air, according to a statement from RAPCA. Also, people outside should take more breaks and do less strenuous activities while the alert is in effect.
Ohio is among 18 states from New Hampshire to South Carolina with poor air quality from more than 400 wildfires burning across Canada, with the worst air in the world reported at 3 p.m. Wednesday in New York City by IQAir, a Swiss air quality monitoring service.
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