Air quality alerts issued due to Whitehouse wildfire

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) – As fires burn across the state, the Capital Region experienced hazy and smoky conditions. It prompted officials to issue warnings around air quality concerns.
The Department of Environmental Conservation issued air quality alerts in our area on Sunday because of that Whitehouse fire burning in Ulster County. 

Conditions have improved since then but that fire is still burning. NEWS10’s Carina Dominguez caught up with the experts on Monday to learn more about what we can expect going forward.

At one point on Sunday the level of concern was in the orange and red areas, deemed “unhealthy levels”. 

The air quality has improved since then. We are back in this green area, which is “good”, meaning not a lot to be concerned about. But experts warn we are not in the clear just yet because of dry weather in the forecast.

According to Captain Scott Jackson, a fire management officer with the DEC, statistically the fire numbers have not increased a lot over long term averages.

“But we have seen a little increase in how early and late the seasons are going and some of the fires are getting a little bigger but we are continuing to adapt and evolve our ability to respond,” said Jackson. 

Christina Speciale with the National Weather Service describes why some may have seen and smelled smoke on Sunday.

“Because the winds shifted to be from the south yesterday, it was just a curtain of smoke that came overhead. We were looking at some footage we have here in the ETEC building, courtesy of the New York Mesonet. We actually have camera images and you can see the wall of smoke,” said Speciale.

Autumn is typically drier and dead leaves are good fuel for wildfires. But she said we have been experiencing unusually dry weather. A dry streak between September 10 and September 24 caught the attention of the National Weather Service.

“15 days in a row had absolutely zero rainfall, not even a trace, not even a drop of rainfall in that period. So we do keep track of dry streaks or dry spells and that actually did rank amongst our list that we keep track of consecutive days of dry weather. That did make our list and that was the first dry streak we had for the year of 2024,” said Speciale.

She added that some areas of the state saw October 2024 become the second driest month of all time.

Jackson echoed those concerns. Since October 1 rangers have responded to 60 fires in the state totaling 2,750 acres. Year to date the state has 112 fires for a total of 2,890 acres.

“Almost half of our fires and most of our acreage have occurred after October 1 this year. So it is a more extreme fire season than we’ve had in recent history,” said Jackson.

With dryer weather expected to continue, so does the fire risk. Jackson said when those air quality indices rise to concerning levels to keep a few things in mind.

“The main thing is keep your windows closed. If you have ventilation that feeds from the outside, if you can tolerate turning that off to avoid drawing smoke into your house. If you are sensitive to the smoke and you’re in that area, if it is possible to maybe go visit friends and family for a little bit to get out that smoke may be a good thing,” said Jackson.

You can sign up to get those air quality alerts sent directly to your email.

The National Weather Service also has a Community Collaborative Rain, Hail & Snow Network, a citizen science program that anyone, or school district, can participate in.