The notice came early Wednesday. In the middle of a spring and sunny day, but with an unprecedented haze that drew a grayish and strange veil in the city, the weather service warned that the air quality in Washington and its surroundings was "harmful". What is called "Code Red".
Later came the official notice: schools canceled recess and outdoor activities even tomorrow and forced doors and windows to close.
Throats itch, eyes burn. Allergy sufferers and asthmatics live a nightmare.
While social networks were filled with unusual photos with misty and reddish skies, sports training in parks and public places was suspended and finally experts advised millions of Americans to stay home and not go out except emergencies. Asthmatics and those with lung problems were recommended to return to an element that nobody wanted to return to: the chinstrap.
Smoke from wildfires in Canada is already hitting the U.S. capital, after turning New York into one of the cities with the worst air quality in the world, affecting millions of people on the east coast of the United States.
The Statue of Liberty is covered in haze and smoke caused by wildfires in Canada. Photo Reuters
The scale
The "code red" is the fourth worst of six color categories — green, yellow, orange, red, purple and maroon — on the U.S. Air Quality Index. At some private monitoring stations in the DC area they approached purple code levels.
At "code red" levels, the air is not healthy for everyone, but sensitive groups (the young, the elderly, people with cardiovascular conditions) are most at risk. Health risks can become significant for anyone. Experts advise that it's best to limit outdoor activity and keep windows closed while indoors.
According to NASA air quality expert Ryan Stauffer, the last Code Red for Washington was caused by fireworks on Independence Day was on February 19, 2011.
The alert also reaches the animals. The Washington Zoo kept the oldest or most vulnerable animals in its shelters, including a two-week-old baby gorilla.
Haze over the Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument on the National Mall from wildfire smoke in Canada. AFP Photo
Before Washington, Canadian smoke invaded New York, which is still on alert. In Manhattan, the phenomenon shrouded the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building and other iconic landmarks in a blanket of gray-orange haze, as passengers stirred as they went up and down the subway stairs.
It was a spectral panorama for the city, a landscape that seemed apocalyptic, from a science fiction movie.
While flights to New York remained unchanged, around noon some disruptions began and then New York's La Guardia airport suspended departures for a few hours due to "low visibility."
IQAir, a technology company that tracks air quality and pollution, said New York's air quality was one of the worst in the world on Tuesday night, almost at the level of New Delhi. The city is not usually among the top 3,000.
Smoke crosses the border from Canada, where hundreds of wildfires remain unchecked, and dangerous conditions are expected to persist through Wednesday and perhaps into the end of the week.
"It's going to be here for a while," said Bryan Ramsey, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in New York.
400 fires
More than 400 wildfires are burning in Canada today, compounding a fire season that is expected to worsen. Quebec, Toronto and Ontario were immersed in smoke, which then moved to New York and began descending south down the East Coast to Washington, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and South Carolina, among others.
Smoke from Canadian wildfires casts a haze over the National Mall in Washington. Photo EFE
An estimated 26,000 people, aided by soldiers, had been evacuated across Canada on Monday, Canadian Public Safety Minister Bill Blair told a news conference. "The images we've seen so far this season are some of the most serious ever seen in Canada," Blair said.
Many Canadians who had to leave their homes in recent days had just hours to gather their things before fleeing, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said at a news conference Monday. He added that "this may be an especially severe wildfire season throughout the summer."
As the air quality crisis drags on, older adults, children and people with heart or lung conditions, including asthma, will be especially at risk, officials warned.
The New York Road Runners, owner and organizer of the New York City Marathon, asked runners living in smoke-polluted areas not to run on World Running Day.
"If you are in New York or any affected area, read and follow your city's health advisory regarding air quality for June 7, and consider running another day."
Jennifer Stowell, a postdoctoral fellow at Boston University School of Public Health who has studied the health effects of wildfires, told The New York Times that wildfire smoke "can be more toxic" to the lungs than usual urban air pollution because of the size and potential for damage of microparticles.
PB
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