MOSES LAKE — You know the smoke is getting bad in Moses Lake when Blue Heron Park is unobservable from the Alder Street Fill. The smoke rolled into the Columbia Basin over the Labor Day weekend, becoming increasingly thick and hazardous to the health of locals as each day passed.

The National Weather Service issued an air quality alert for eastern Washington until noon on Friday. Meteorologists say northeast and east winds brought the smoke into the area from large wildfires currently burning in Montana and British Columbia. Closer to home, a number of fires in central and eastern Washington and Oregon are not helping the problem, as thousands of acres of land are currently burning and sending smoke into the air.

The easterly flow of smoke is expected to continue all the way up into Thursday, but become increasingly lighter every day. The pattern is projected to continue until a cold front rolls in late Thursday night, which will be followed by a southwesterly wind Friday morning.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) listed the air quality as unhealthy for the Moses Lake area in particular Tuesday afternoon. The EPA’s Air Quality Index puts air quality conditions into one of six different categories: good, moderate, unhealthy for sensitive groups, unhealthy, very unhealthy and hazardous.

When air conditions are classified as unhealthy, people with heart or lung disease, older adults and children are urged to avoid prolonged or heavy exertion. In addition, the EPA states everyone may begin to experience health effects and members of sensitive groups, mainly children, older adults and people with conditions that are worsened by pollutants in the air, may experience more serious health effects.

Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com.