Smoke pushing into Carson City from Sierra fire puts area air quality in 'moderate' range
The Carson City area as well as Dayton in Lyon County received a heavy waft of smoke late Wednesday due to wind carrying smoke from the Caples Fire burning on the California side of the Sierra.
The fire, which began as a controlled burn that turned into a wildfire last Thursday, is on the Eldorado National Forest 3 miles west of Kirkwood, Calif., and 15 miles southwest of the south shore of Lake Tahoe. As of Wednesday evening the fire had burned 3,200 acres and was 53 percent contained, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
As of Wednesday evening, Carson City air quality was getting the brunt of the smoke, which was in the moderate range, according to AIRNow.gov. Carson Valley in Douglas County was in the "Good" category late Wednesday, as was the Reno and Sparks areas.
Moderate means air quality is acceptable; however, for some pollutants there may be a moderate health concern for a very small number of people who are unusually sensitive to air pollution.