Wildfires in US West blowing ‘so much smoke’ into East Coast

PORTLAND, Ore. — Smoke and ash from massive wildfires in the American West shrouded the sky and led to air quality alerts on parts of the East Coast.

The effects of the blazes were felt 2,500 miles away Wednesday as haze hung over New York City, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Strong winds are blowing smoke east from California, Oregon, Montana and other states on the opposite end of the country.

The nation’s largest wildfire, Oregon’s Bootleg Fire, grew to become half the size of Rhode Island. Fires also burned on both sides of California’s Sierra Nevada, Washington state and other areas of the West.