Spare The Air: 4-Day Air Quality Forecast For Pinole, Hercules

PINOLE-HERCULES, CA — A string of Spare the Air alerts issued by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District because of smoke in the region from the Glass Fire and other wildfires around California will continue until at least Thursday for Pinole, Hercules and the rest of the Bay Area, according to the air district.

Burning wood or other solid fuels indoors or outdoors is illegal on Spare the Air days. The alerts had been issued until Tuesday but were extended until Thursday as the Glass Fire continues to burn in Napa, Sonoma and Lake counties.

The blaze had burned more than 67,050 acres and was 54 percent contained as of Tuesday evening.

The air district said onshore winds are blowing smoke out of much of the Bay Area, but localized impacts remain near the North Bay and elsewhere in the region.

The Bay Area's air quality is expected to improve later this week and weekend, with some rain in the forecast.

"Bay Area residents should continue to be vigilant about air quality conditions over the next couple of days," BAAQMD executive officer Jack Broadbent said in a news release. "As fire containment efforts progress and more favorable weather conditions move into the region, we expect more widespread relief from smoke starting this weekend."

Pinole, Hercules 4-Day Air Quality Index Forecast

A Spare the Air Alert is called when air quality is forecast to be unhealthy, or above 100 in the AQI, in any one of the Bay Area's reporting zones.

Here is the four-day air quality index — AQI — forecast for the Coastal and Central Bay Zone, which includes Pinole and Hercules:

• Wednesday: 46 AQI (Good); PM 2.5 (Microscopically small mixtures of solid particles or liquid droplets that are emitted directly into the air.)
• Thursday: Good; PM 2.5
• Friday: Good; PM 2.5
• Saturday: Good; PM 2.5

Bay City News Service contributed to this report.