Smoke from hundreds of wildfires burning in Canada and northern Minnesota pushed southeast this week, triggering air quality alerts across a wide stretch of the United States and exposing millions of people to hazardous levels of fine particulate matter.
Detroit and Washington, D.C., ranked among the world's most polluted major cities on Friday. Chicago had also been near the top of the list Friday morning before conditions began to improve, according to CBS News. The alerts stretched from Minnesota to parts of the East Coast, affecting states including Michigan, Wisconsin, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.
Northeast Minnesota saw the worst conditions. Air quality levels there reached hazardous levels, making it unsafe for everyone, not just sensitive groups. Minnesota officials issued an air quality alert extending into the weekend for much of the state.
The entire state of Michigan was placed under an air quality alert Friday. Officials there said smoky conditions could linger into Saturday. Pennsylvania declared a Code Purple air quality alert, up from a Code Red the day before, the state's Department of Environmental Protection said. Washington, D.C., was also under a Code Red alert, meaning the air is unhealthy for everyone.
In New York City, conditions improved from unhealthy to moderate as the day went on. A large plume of smoke that moved into the Boston area earlier in the week turned the skies from milky white to a brownish yellow.
"It almost felt like you were at a campsite with an active fire going," said West Roxbury resident James Venezia.
The smoke also raised concerns about the FIFA World Cup final, scheduled for the weekend in New Jersey. World Cup organizers said Friday they were monitoring the situation closely. "There's been discussion about it, and we have somebody with the National Weather Service that sits in FIFA headquarters there, so we're monitoring closely," said Andrew Giuliani, White House World Cup task force executive director.
High levels of fine particulate matter from wildfire smoke are particularly dangerous for children and people with heart or lung conditions. Officials across the affected states advised residents to stay indoors as much as possible.
