An air quality advisory is in effect for the state of Wisconsin until noon on Friday.
As of 7 a.m. Thursday, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is reporting that a widespread Very Unhealthy to Hazardous Air Quality Index is being observed nearly statewide in Wisconsin.
Everyone should avoid all physical activity outdoors.
WUWM’s Eddie Morales spoke with Craig Czarnecki, outreach coordinator of the Air Management Program at the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, about the severity of the recent wildfires and how people can stay safe.
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Eddie Morales: How does the current air quality level compare to previous summers during wildfires?
Craig Czarnecki: What we're experiencing is air quality index concentrations between "very unhealthy" to "hazardous." Hazardous is the highest you can get on the air quality index scale. We had not had wildfire smoke impacts like that previously. Some of these other events we've had the last few years, we would get to that very unhealthy, maybe temporarily, but this we've had hazardous conditions that started yesterday and they've kind of gone into today.
It's not just one part of the state. It's pretty much covering the entire state of Wisconsin and then Michigan, and it's drifting as far east as Toronto, New York City. So, this is a pretty significant smoke plume that we're dealing with here.
Are there any trends that the DNR has observed over these past instances of wildfire smoke spreading?
Yeah, 2023 was the record-breaking year as far as number of acres burned in Canada. What we're seeing right now, the significance of the smoke is because of the proximity. These are in northern Minnesota, so they're a little bit closer to us. That smoke concentration is just greater. The other factor with this particular event is just the conditions themselves: it's been windy, it's been very hot, it's been very dry. Once those fires started, they were able to spread and expand just super rapidly. That's what produced all the smoke that we're dealing with here now.
Can you talk about which factors help determine the severity of the air quality and predict how it changes?
So we do have some meteorologists and forecasters on staff that are looking at various like computer models and weather computer systems that show us how that smoke is going to behave with the wind, for example. We're also talking with other meteorologists in other states nearby to see what they're experiencing. Then, we have our statewide air monitoring network too that we're looking at, seeing where concentrations are — if they're rising, falling, are they holding steady?
For example, our forecasters are predicting some southerly winds are going to pick up. So that should help blow some of the smoke out of the area, from western Wisconsin to eastern Wisconsin. So hopefully we'll see some improvements starting later in the afternoon.
What are the most important things that people can do to protect themselves while the air quality is this poor?
This is kind of unprecedented. We don't really ever get to this hazardous level on the AQI scale. When we are at this level, we're really urging people to avoid all outdoor physical activity. Stay indoors if you can. Really try to limit your time outside during this event and make sure you know where to find your air quality information. So the DNR website, our air quality map has that information. EPA has a fire and smoke map that also has AQI information for you can check there as well. So, really paying attention to conditions in your area are the big things we're stressing here.
Are there any precautions that people should take or any measures for being indoors?
Try to avoid doing things that are going to just put more particulates in the air, like vacuuming or lighting a candle. Vacuuming is going to put more dust particles in the air. A candle puts a little of that smoke in the air. So just try to avoid any of that stuff and make sure your windows and doors are sealed up.
If you want, you can make a homemade air filter. If you don't have one, you can make one out of a box fan and a furnace filter. We do have a diagram on our website on our wildfire smoke page. People can learn how to do that if they need to.
If people go outside, do you recommend they wear a mask if they're able to?
Yeah, if you're able to, you can definitely consider wearing an N95 mask or a P100 particulate respirator. That's probably going to be your best bet. But even an N95 is going to help filter out some of those particles while you're outside.
