NJ wildfire: Here's how to check your local air quality and what each level means

A fast-moving wildfire continues burning in New Jersey’s Pine Barrens as of Wednesday morning — already consuming more than 11,000 acres and only bein 30% contained, according to officials.

For Wednesday, an Air Quality Alert is in effect for Ocean County, near the site of the fire, where air quality could become unhealthy for sensitive groups. At this time we don’t see these alerts expanding to other parts of our region because winds are generally light and coming out of the northwest. This means that the majority of the smoke from the fire is being directed south and east, blowing primarily offshore and staying south of the NYC Metro Area.

As the flames rage on, you can check your local air quality by imputing your zip code in the designated search bar on the AirNow.gov website.

When you input your zip code, you will have a dial that shows up to the right of where you entered the zip code.

In the dial you’ll find:

• The NowCast AQI color, number, and category
• The hour of the last update
• The primary pollutant (that’s the pollutant with the highest AQI out of all the monitors in the area for the last hour updated)

The U.S. Air Quality Index (AQI) is a tool used by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to communicate with the public about outdoor air quality and health.The AQI includes six color-coded categories, each corresponding to a different level of concern.

It is particularly important to keep the AQI level in mind for health reasons, particularly if you have health issues.

Daily AQI Color	Levels of Concern	Values of Index	Description of Air Quality
Green	Good	0 to 50	Air quality is satisfactory, and air pollution poses little or no risk.
Yellow	Moderate	51 to 100	Air quality is acceptable. However, there may be a risk for some people, particularly those who are unusually sensitive to air pollution.
Orange	Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups	101 to 150	Members of sensitive groups may experience health effects. The general public is less likely to be affected.
Red	Unhealthy	151 to 200	Some members of the general public may experience health effects; members of sensitive groups may experience more serious health effects.
Purple	Very Unhealthy	201 to 300	Health alert: The risk of health effects is increased for everyone.
Maroon	Hazardous	301 and higher	Health warning of emergency conditions: everyone is more likely to be affected.