Mesa County Public Health has issued an Air Watch Alert through Saturday (9/14) at 4:00 p.m. To protect air quality and for the health and safety of all residents, no open burning is allowed.
Ozone levels are forecasted to be in the Moderate category on the Air Quality Index (AQI) and we anticipate poor smoke dispersal conditions through Saturday afternoon. Ozone and tiny smoke particles can enter the lungs, affect your health, reduce visibility, and cause the air to appear hazy when levels are elevated.
Residents in sensitive groups, including people with heart or lung disease, older adults and young children should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion while these bans are in place.
Keep in mind, if your open burn becomes out of control and causes damage on a property that you don’t own, you could face civil and criminal charges.
All residents can help improve air quality in the Grand Valley. Please consider taking these small steps to improve air quality:
- Avoid vehicle idling.
- Carpool when possible.
- Combine errands into one trip.
- Avoid waiting in drive-thru lines.
For more information on air quality conditions and alerts, including real-time readings through a community-sourced monitoring system called Purple Air, visit our air quality page.