How’s the air quality in New York amid the Long Island wildfire?

Fires were started in the afternoon or late morning and spread quickly due to dry conditions and strong winds. Gusts of up to 40 mph helped feed the blaze, which spread quickly. Low humidity and available brush and grass were feeding factors.

Authorities have ruled out any natural cause, such as lightning, and believe the cause is driven by human activity.

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New Yorkers breathe easy after Long Island wildfire

For now, New Yorkers can breathe easy as air quality remains stable despite the Long Island wildfire. The AQI in most of the places in the state is under 50, per AccuWeather.

Despite the smoke plumes in some areas, the overall pollution levels are under safe limits and no public health harms are expected at this time.

Much of the smoke was pushed offshore by strong northwesterly winds that kept it from settling over heavily populated areas. Air quality readings across the metro area that were reported in the “good” range all Saturday.

Some of the smoke plumes were so large that they were picked up on weather radar, showing a clear trajectory moving out over the Atlantic Ocean. This helped alleviate major air quality concerns, as the densest portions of the smoke did not linger over communities.

“We are in close communication with local partners on Long Island to coordinate assistance and make sure they have the resources they need to protect their communities,” New York Governor Kathy Hochul said in a statement.

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“Whenever you tie that in with low humidity it can lead to an elevated risk for fire spread. We’ll have a minimum humidity around 30 percent. So, we urge people to use extreme caution with potential ignition sources,” Bryan Ramsey, a meteorologist, told Newsday.

Officials further reported that the fires had spread near an industrial area near an Air National Guard base in Westhampton Beach and had not yet done immediate damage to structures.