CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) – Wildfires burning in Canada affected the air quality in much of the United States.

“Until 2023, wildfires hadn’t been as much of an issue in West Virginia or even generally on the East Coast as we’re seeing now in 2025,” said Renu Chakrabarty, assistant director, air monitoring & air toxics for the West Virginia EPA. “We’re seeing another round of wildfires coming through and impacts from wildfires.”

Smoke made its way into our region — triggering an air quality alert on Thursday.

“We just wanted to make sure that folks who may have some health sensitivities–children, elderly, heart or lung conditions — were aware of what was going on so they could take precautions if they thought it was warranted,” Chakrabarty said.

The EPA has different time averaging periods for different pollutants.

In this case, particulate matter is what led to the haze.

The Air Quality Index monitored by the EPA looks at the hourly data for the pollutant.

“We were concerned that some of the hours in the day maybe go over the standard on an hourly basis,” Chakrabarty said. “We actually did not see that. We did come close.”

The West Virginia APA also checks data and forecasts from the National Weather Service to better inform what they see on their own monitors.

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