OGDEN — Air quality is extremely poor in the Top of Utah and will likely remain that way for the next few days.
The Utah Department of Environmental Quality issued a red air alert on Friday for residents of Weber, Davis, Box Elder and Morgan counties, urging small children, the elderly and people with asthma and other respiratory illnesses to stay indoors.
Even healthy adults should limit outdoor exertion, the DEQ says.
DEQ spokeswoman Donna Spangler said several fires across the state, including the large one in Saratoga Springs, are contributing to the poor air quality.
“Anytime you have fires mixed with our current weather conditions, there is going to be an impact,” she said. “Obviously, the closer you are to the fires, the more you will be impacted, but when that heavy smoke gets into the air, it can affect people miles away.”
DEQ Director Bryce Bird said high concentrations of ground-level ozone have been building up during the day when temperatures are hottest. With record high temperatures expected for the weekend, the air will likely continue to be bad in the immediate future.
“We expect those ozone values to be high,” he said, “and the conditions should be about the same for the next couple of days.”
Bird said it is also strongly recommended that Top of Utah residents limit their driving for the next few days because automobile emissions greatly contribute to the poor air quality.
For more information and up-to-date air conditions, visit www.airquality.utah.gov.
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