ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Notice that acrid smell in the air Wednesday? Smoke from the Canadian wildfires hundreds of miles away is affecting our area once again.
And those with respiratory issues may especially notice some trouble breathing.
News10NBC’s Patrick Moussignac has been following this story and joins with what you need to know.
Remember masks? Monroe County gave out lots of the KN-95 masks during COVID. Now they’re doing it again because of the smoke from our neighbor to the north.
Brand new boxes of KN-95 masks just arrived at local libraries, including Brighton Memorial Library in Brighton. Thousands more were given to all four DMV offices.
Doctors say Wednesday’s poor air quality makes breathing difficult for those with respiratory issues. The masks are good at blocking the fine particles that are in the air that can irritate your lungs and nose.
Ann Fox is a friend of the library board member. She tells New10NBC that the library is giving out masks as another way of serving the community.
The Rochester International CGI Jazz Festival is also giving away masks.
Find out the air quality where you live
You can get live updates on air quality through the AirNow website. As of 4 p.m., the air quality in the City of Rochester and suburbs to the west is considered “unhealthy”, meaning people with heart or lung disease, older adults, children, and teens should avoid strenuous outdoor activities. Everyone else should shorten the amount of time they are active outdoors.
You can get masks in these locations:
- Henrietta DMV, Frontier Commons, 1225 Jefferson Road Suite A26
- Irondequoit DMV, Titus Mall, 545 Titus Ave
- Arnett Branch, Rochester Public Library, 310 Arnett Boulevard
- Rochester Downtown DMV, 200 E. Main St., Ste. 101
- Greece DMV, The Mall at Greece Ridge, Use entrance #2 near Ruby Gordon
- Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County Library, 115 South Avenue
- Brighton Memorial Library, 2300 Elmwood Avenue
- Charlotte Branch, Rochester Public Library, 3557 Lake Avenue
- Chili Public Library, 3237 Chili Avenue
- East Rochester Public Library, 317 Main Street
- Frederick Douglass Community Library, Rochester Public Library, 971 South Avenue
- Gates Public Library, 902 Elmgrove Rd.
- Lincoln Branch, Rochester Public Library, 851 Joseph Avenue
- Lyell Branch, Rochester Public Library, 956 Lyell Avenue
- Maplewood Community Library, Rochester Public Library, 1111 Dewey Avenue
- Mendon Public Library, 22 North Main Street
- Monroe Branch, Rochester Public Library, 809 Monroe Avenue
- Newman Riga Library, 1 South Main Street, Churchville, NY 14428
- Phillis Wheatley Community Library, Rochester Public Library, 33 Dr. Samuel McCree Way
- Rush Public Library, 5977 East Henrietta Road
- Sully Branch, Rochester Public Library, 530 Webster Avenue
- Winton Branch, Rochester Public Library, 611 Winton Road North
The state issued an Air Quality Health Advisory for the Western New York region on Wednesday through midnight as the Canadian wildfires continue to burn. The wildfires are bringing particulate matter, particles so fine they can enter deep into the respiratory tract, into our region.
Canada’s wildfire season this year is the worst on record, with around 29,000 square miles burning in eastern and western Canada, which is greater than the combined area that burned in 2016, 2019, 2020 and 2022
