Health advisory and Spare the Air alerts in effect for Bay Area (update)

Due to smoke, ash, and particulate matter in the air, a heath advisory and Spare the Air alert are in effect for the entire Bay Area due to the North Bay wildfires still burning.

“Please curtail wood burning, lawn mowing and leaf blowing, driving, and BBQing,” notes a tweet care of San Francisco-based Spare the Air, an environmental agency.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the Air Quality (AQI) ranked San Francisco air as “unhealthy for sensitive groups” (the orange parts of the map) and predicts “unhealthy” (crimson red) for Thursday.

It is also suggested you rethink physically-intensive activities like outdoor exercise. Other suggestions include staying indoors with windows and doors closed as much as possible, as well as shutting off fans that bring smoke-filled outdoor air inside.

Map graphic via AQI

The Homeless Outreach Team (HOT) will also perform wellness checks throughout San Francisco and provide transportation (upon request) to city shelters.

For San Francisco folks who need filtered air, the following public spots are available for better breathing:

• San Francisco Main Library, 100 Larkin, 9 am to 8 pm
• Chinatown Branch Library, 1135 Powell, 10 am to 9 pm
• Mission Bay Branch Library, 960 Fourth Street, 10 am to 6 pm
• Glen Park Branch Library, 2825 Diamond, 10 am to 6 pm

Update: The healthy advisory has been extended into the weekend, according to CBS SF.