Mesa County has pushed into the moderate air quality category due to wildfire smoke in the Grand Valley. Here’s what you need to know about keeping yourself and your family safe when our air quality drops out of the good category.
Who is at greatest risk during times of poor air quality?
- People who have heart or lung issues such as heart disease, or asthma.
- Older adults, often due to their increased risk of heart and lung diseases.
- Children – their airways are still developing and they breathe more air per pound of body weight than adults.
What to do during times of poor air quality:
- Avoid heavy outdoor exertion such as running or other forms of exercise during advisories.
- Keep your indoor air clean and stay indoors.
- Close your doors and windows and turn off systems that ventilate air from outside in.
- You can run your air conditioner, if you have one, but keep the fresh-air intake closed and the filter clean.
- If you do not have an air conditioner and it’s too warm to stay inside without your swamp cooler on or windows closed, seek shelter at a designated evacuation area or with a friend or family member with a closed air circulation system.
- Avoid activities that increase indoor pollution. You want to keep your indoor air as clean as possible during a smoke advisory.
- Do not vacuum. It stirs up dust in your home.
- Do not smoke tobacco in your home.
- Do not burn candles, fireplaces or gas stoves.
- Don’t rely on dust masks for protection.
- Paper masks commonly found at hardware stores are designed to trap large particles, like sawdust. They won’t protect your lungs from the small particles found in wildfire smoke.
- Contact your health care provider if you’re concerned about your health.
- Make sure you’re signed up for emergency notifications, in case the wildfire causes an evacuation plan.
Click here for current air quality in Mesa County.
Open burning is still banned in Mesa County as of April 20, 2018.