Air quality in east Pierce County near the Cascade foothills was headed back toward unhealthy at the start of this week as smoke from wildifires in Canada returned.
According to the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency (PSCAA), the smoke and predicted high temperatures could create moderate to high-risk conditions that are unhealthy for people who are sensitive to particulate-heavy air, such as ones with asthma.
But as of Aug. 28, good air quality was expected for the rest of Pierce County, PSCAA officials said.
They noted that local air quality can change from day to day or even hour to hour. That happened last weekend, as smoke from British Columbia wildfires drifted back into parts of the Puget Sound region. The same situation earlier in August created a heavy haze and burn bans that were ordered for health reasons.
The B.C. wildfires aren’t expected to stop until the fall rains arrive, so high-pressure ridges in the air can cause a return here of the smoke, officials said.
At the start of this week, there was no air quality-related burn ban in Pierce County. Air quality burn bans are issued and enforced by the PSAPCA when air pollution levels rise to unhealthy levels. The bans typically occur during colder fall and winter months as a result of atmospheric conditions and smoke from fireplaces or other heat sources.
Such bans in Pierce County, plus King, Kitsap and Snohomish counties, were lifted Aug. 11 because wind from the north reversed, ending the inundation of smoke from British Columbia.
An air quality burn ban is a temporary order that restricts the use of wood stoves and fireplaces, as well as outdoor burning such as campfires, when air quality is bad enough that human health may be at risk. The bans typically last up to a week or more.
Fire safety burn bans, like the one currently in effect in Pierce County, aare issued by county fire marshals during dry weather and can last throughout the summer.
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