California Under Clean Air Warning Wildfires Create Smoke, Ash

Sacramento, CA (AHN) - Relentless wildfires in California have created so much smoke, ash, and particulates that it has been deemed unhealthy to breathe the air.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Weather Service (NWS) has issued and air quality alert until 11:00 am Monday, saying the level of toxicants in the air could "cause serious health problems, aggravate lung disease, cause asthma attacks or acute bronchitis and increase risk of respiratory infections."

An area of 450 miles from Bakersfield to Redding has been warned of the dangers and instructed to stay inside as much as possible. Authorities are also asking residents to keep emissions as low as possible by limiting driving, carpooling when driving is necessary, and postponing lawn work that requires gas-operated machinery.

Spokesman for the California Air Resources Board, Dimitri Stanich, told the Associated Press that the situation is "very serious" and "very dangerous." He said the air is 2 to 10 times the federal standard for clean air.

Various outdoor sporting events have been canceled, and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is strongly urging counties to ban fireworks that normally accompany the Fourth of July celebrations across the nation.

State emergency services spokesman Kelly Huston told the AP that Saturday over 17,000 firefighters, 1,500 fire engines and bulldozers, and more than 80 helicopters and aircraft were fighting more than 1,000 fires. Lightening storms ignited many of the latest fires that have been burning through out California in the last couple of months.