The Associated Press
WESTWOOD, Calif. — Health authorities hope shifting winds will break up the smoky haze that is coating the sky across the Central Valley hundreds of miles from a remote Sierra Nevada wildfire.
The smoke is drifting from a nearly 20,000-acre fire in Plumas County, causing air warnings in the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys and hazy sky across northern Nevada.
The Moonlight fire started Monday afternoon on private property near the boundary of Lassen and Plumas national forests. It is burning mainly in the Plumas National Forest about 100 miles southeast of Redding.
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention said Thursday that the fire was only 5 percent contained as firefighters battle high winds and dry conditions.
The blaze is mostly burning through heavy timber and on steep slopes far from communities, though more than 30 homes were evacuated Wednesday. More than 1,000 firefighters were at the scene.
The drifting smoke prompted school officials to cancel outdoor events, and brought warnings from health officials, who urged people to take precautions such as staying indoors and using air conditioning.
Lori Kobza of the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District said the elderly, children, and people with respiratory or heart disease should also cut back on outdoor physical activity, because the smoke can cause an increase in symptoms such as tightness in the chest and asthma attacks.