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Jed Boal ReportingStill no relief in sight for people having trouble breathing. The Utah Division of Air Quality issued another health advisory today.
While the air cleared out this afternoon, the air quality this morning was worse than yesterday morning and it's not getting any better quickly.
Utah County air this morning rated unhealthy--a high concentration of particulates, in other words thick smog. In Salt Lake County air quality was moderate, which means it shouldn't cause health problems.
Rick Sprott, Division of Air Quality: “Pretty clearly, a lot of us are impacted by it. And so the most important thing is watch out how you feel, and stay inside if you feel effects."
Jordan Holdaway had a serious asthma attack yesterday at school when he had to run a mile in gym.
Jordan Holdaway, Asthma Sufferer: “My lungs close up and it burns.”
The smoke and exertion triggered his asthma. He had to leave school and take two breathing treatments with his asthma medicine. Usually one treatment opens up his lungs.
Debbie Holdaway, Jordan's Mother: “It's actually a machine that he uses and it works usually very quickly. Yesterday it didn't."
Air filters taken from monitoring stations in Salt Lake and Utah Counties show just what Utahns are breathing. The dirtiest samples are from Utah County, but Salt Lake County is awfully dirty too.
So how does this air quality compare with those nasty winter inversions? At the peaks, this haze is just as unhealthy, but not as widespread. In the afternoon, up-canyon winds clear the smoke out. Winds after midnight blow the smoke into the valleys so it's likely to be pretty thick again in the morning.
