County takes on apocalyptic look amid haze of wildfires
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Wildfires brought orange-tinted skies to Humboldt County for several days in September.
The haze remained on and off for several days and spurred warnings to avoid being outside in many communities in the county.
Fires in eastern areas of the county that contributed to the haze included the Red Salmon, the Hopkins and the Slater fires as well as the August Complex fire, which became the largest fire in the state’s recorded history.
Amid the fires, evacuation centers were set up in various areas of the county, including at the Mateel Community Center and the Bridgeville School. Portions of southern and eastern roads were closed as the fires spread in local forests.
Air quality, at times, reached very hazardous levels in the months following the start of the fires but improved as winter weather arrived and cleansed the area.
Amid the fires, local residents learned about and tracked particles in the air that contributed to pollution. Some residents purchased and installed PurpleAir sensor or tracked permanent sensors in the county.
While PurpleAir sensors aren’t as fully reliable as the other types — citizens can often mistakenly install them indoors, or near other smoke-producers, like barbecue grills — they serve as an important tool for local residents to specify air quality for different areas.
“It’s crowdsourcing the data,” said Lori Dengler, an emeritus professor of geology at Humboldt State University, and expert in tsunami and earthquake hazards who spent weeks this year studying air quality. “They’re a form of the public contributing to science.”
Amid the fires, evacuation centers were set up in various areas of the county, including at the Mateel Community Center and the Bridgeville School. Portions of southern and eastern roads were closed as the fires spread in local forests.