Smoke from Longview fire driving down air quality in Portland area
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The lingering smoke from a massive, Tuesday night fire at a Longview paper mill is driving air quality down throughout the Portland area Wednesday morning.
Moderate air is being detected from Longview, south down the I-5 corridor most of the way to Salem. Unhealthy air is being detected in parts of north Portland and Vancouver.
“Unfortunately, we have winds coming out of the north this morning,” said KOIN 6 Meteorologist Kelley Bayern. “That is helping drive smoke from this fire right into the Vancouver and Portland metro areas. You can see and smell it out the door this morning.”
Anyone in areas of unhealthy air should limit exposure and outdoor activity.
Bayern says the smoke may stick around throughout the day.
"As long as this fire continues to burn, smoke will be sent into our metro areas. We can only hope firefighters are able to tackle and extinguish this fire as soon as possible."