As wildfire smoke makes air unhealthy from Midwest to East Coast, officials say stay inside

By — Tammy Webber, Associated Press Tammy Webber, Associated Press By — Philip Marcelo, Associated Press Philip Marcelo, Associated Press Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/as-wildfire-smoke-makes-air-unhealthy-from-midwest-to-east-coast-officials-say-stay-inside Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter As wildfire smoke makes air unhealthy from Midwest to East Coast, officials say stay inside Health Jul 16, 2026 7:51 PM EDT NEW YORK (AP) — Heavy, pungent wildfire smoke darkened skies in the U.S. on Thursday from the Great Lakes to parts of the East Coast, reducing visibility and prompting warnings that breathing the air outside could be dangerous. WATCH: The health risks of wildfire smoke across the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic Officials in many cities urged residents to stay inside or wear masks outside as air quality reached unhealthy to hazardous levels, meaning it's unhealthy for anyone, regardless of health conditions. The smoke is coming from fires that are burning primarily in Canada but also in northern Minnesota. A lingering high pressure system has trapped the smoke close to the ground, said Steven Freitag, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Detroit, where air quality was among the worst in the world for major cities. "Sure enough, it arrived in force here and it's really pretty extreme levels," said Freitag, who noted that visibility in some areas was reduced to a half mile. "It's scary," Omar Mitchell, 50, said as he looked to the sky. He wore a mask while walking to his restaurant in Detroit. "You don't know necessarily what the side effects may be. That's days or months later." Microscopic particles can lodge deep in the lungs and enter the bloodstream, leading to heart and lung problems and contributing to other long-term health issues. The air stinks and the sky glows yellow in some places All of Michigan and much of Minnesota were under a hazardous air quality alert. In the Chicago area, air quality ranged from very unhealthy to hazardous. National Weather Service meteorologist Jake Petr said even if winds from the northwest clear skies as expected later this week, the smoky air could keep returning until the fires are out. That could take months, until it snows in Canada and northern Minnesota, officials have said. Bill Ostrowski, 76, wore a mask as he walked through downtown Chicago, where wildfire smoke shrouded skyscrapers. "It stinks. It's not a good sign when you wake up in the morning and you can smell the air," said Ostrowski. In St. Paul, Minnesota, the sky was "glowing yellow," said Brent Williams, head of the soil, water and climate department at the University of Minnesota. The area "could be looking at weeks to months of continued smoke and flare-ups off and on as the winds blow in different directions," he said. A study published this year found that long-term exposure to tiny particles from wildfire smoke contributed to an average