CRANBERRY, Pa. — The reaction from many people when they stepped outside in the Pittsburgh area Thursday was the same.
“It’s crazy. When I walked out of the courthouse today, I’m like, what’s going on here?” Coy Dickey of Beaver said.
“It’s definitely hazy here; you can definitely tell it and smell it,” added Janet McCoy, visiting from Ohio.
The smoke from the Canadian wildfires arrived in the Pittsburgh region Thursday morning.
The haze was thick in Cranberry by mid-morning. The smoke also created a smoky haze and smell in Beaver County before noon.
“Thick, you know, just maybe something you maybe see out west. We’re not used to that here,” Dickey said.
The smoke has led to people reporting a burning sensation in their throats and eyes.
Channel 11’s Andrew Havranek spoke with Dr. Tariq Cheema, a pulmonologist with Allegheny Health Network.
“It’s unhealthy for everyone, regardless if you have lung disease or not, because it acts as an irritant to your lungs because you’re inhaling the smoke,” Cheema said. “But the high-risk populations, the folks who have asthma, COPD, chronic lung disease, so for them it is a bigger issue because it can definitely cause exasperation of the disease and flares, which in some cases can lead to hospitalizations.”
He said his office received calls all day about this smoke, asking for advice.
“If you have an increased cough, if you feel more short of breath, if you’re wheezing, contact your doctors,” he said.
His advice is to stay inside and limit the time you do have to be outside while the smoke is here.
Channel 11 Meteorologist Adis Juklo said it will get worse before it clears up.
“We should start to get the smoke out of here gradually Friday night, and I think by Saturday we should be in better shape,” Juklo said.
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