Winds pushed smoke from several wildfires in Utah, Arizona and California into the Roaring Fork Valley Thursday. The smoke is likely to stick around Friday as well.
The state air quality division released models yesterday afternoon that show enormous amounts of smoke are blowing into Western Colorado. This is from the 1,100-acre Brian Head wildfire in southwestern Utah, as well as other fires across the west.
Local air quality monitors showed levels of particulate matter in the air more than tripled over the course of the day, before dissipating in the late afternoon.
State health officials said that if visibility is less than five miles, smoke has reached unhealthy levels.
“The best thing to do is listen to your body and if you’re feeling impacts, to go inside, shut the windows and take care of yourself,” said Jannette Whitcomb, who monitors air quality for the City of Aspen.
Information on pollutants in Aspen’s air can be found at aspenairquality.com.