DEMHS IS CONTINUING TO MONITOR DENSE SMOKE FROM THE CANADIAN WILDFIRES. AIR QUALITY LEVELS HAVE REACHED THE ‘HAZARDOUS’ LEVEL IN PARTS OF CONNECTICUT
DEMHS IS CONTINUING TO MONITOR DENSE SMOKE FROM THE CANADIAN WILDFIRES. AIR QUALITY LEVELS HAVE REACHED THE ‘HAZARDOUS’ LEVEL IN PARTS OF CONNECTICUT
As of 17:00 very dense smoke from the Canadian wildfires continues to be present here in Connecticut. The densest smoke is positioned through portions of southwestern Connecticut as seen on the map to the right. Air quality conditions have deteriorated drastically with ‘hazardous’ air quality values being reported in Bridgeport and the immediate surrounding area which is the highest level of the scale. The AQI level in Bridgeport is currently 313ug/m3 which is the highest recorded value in Connecticut since EPA records started in 1999. The previous highest recorded value was 166ug/m3 just yesterday.
New Haven, Fairfield and southern Litchfield counties are currently experiencing ‘very unhealthy’ AQI values while Hartford, Tolland, northern Litchfield, Middlesex, New London, and Windham counties are experiencing unhealthy conditions.
AQI values are projected to remain between unhealthy and hazardous through the overnight hours with some relief expected to work in Thursday morning and falling values through the day on Thursday.
The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) has issued an Air Quality Action Day for fine particulates from through midnight tonight. An Air Quality Action Day means that fine particulate concentrations within the region may approach or exceed unhealthy standards.