Smoke from Point Fire triggers Spare the Air alert and health concerns in Bay Area

HEALDSBURG, Calif. (KGO) – Due to smoke from the Point Fire, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District has issued a “Spare the Air” warning through Monday.

“The smoke from the Point Fire created conditions that entered the unhealthier range on the air quality index,” said Erin DeMerritt, a spokeswoman for the BAAQMD.

The wind is driving the smoke towards the Bay Area. The densest smoke areas are south of Lake Sonoma, where the fire broke out. The air quality index in Windsor and Santa Rosa reached health-threatening levels in several places on Monday.

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“I started my morning in Santa Rosa and it smelled a little bit like smoke,” said John Norman, who lives in Rohnert Park and has been driving up the North Bay for work. “I was in Cloverdale where it was a little denser, and now here in Healdsburg it’s pretty much the densest I’ve experienced all day.”

BAAQMD asks people with respiratory problems not to stay outside for long periods of time. The smoke is considered hazardous to their health. The Point Fire was about 20% contained as of Monday afternoon. Winds were calmer for most of the day, but the fire was still burning around it, sending smoke into the air.

“Smoke is a hazard in and of itself,” said James Gore, Sonoma County Supervisor for District 4. “We’ve been dealing with this for a long time. Ironically, the smoke is not thickest where the fire is.”

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Sonoma County is maintaining evacuation orders, saying it has learned from previous fires.

“The Tubbs fire in 2017, the Sonoma complex fires — they were all caught off guard,” Gore said. “We were caught off guard. There was this mantra that was, ‘Never another fire,’ but ‘Never another fire.'”

CAL FIRE and Sonoma County officials are asking people living near the fire to remain vigilant in case the fire spreads.

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