Air quality alert issued for Iron County as wildfire smoke lingers

Smoke from Canadian wildfires kept Iron County under an air quality alert Monday, with fine-particle pollution elevated across Crystal Falls, Iron River and Bates Township. The advisory covered July 19 and July 20 after the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy extended a statewide smoke alert through Monday.

The warning covered people with asthma, heart and lung disease, older adults, children, and anyone spending long hours outside. In Iron County, that meant a real hit to daily summer routines on trails, at lakes, along rivers and on rural roads, where mowing, construction, logging, fishing and youth sports all put people in the smoke for longer stretches. Even healthy adults could notice irritated eyes, nose or throat, coughing, shortness of breath or a heavy feeling in the air.

EGLE’s statewide smoke alert had already been in place since July 15, after a July 14 notice set it to run from Wednesday through Sunday and then extended it through July 20 as wildfire smoke continued to move across Michigan. In parts of the Upper Peninsula, air quality reached very unhealthy levels during the episode, while some of the Lower Peninsula briefly saw improvement.

Canadian wildfires drove the broader smoke event, with about 800 active fires across Canada on July 14. The haze also fed closures and cancellations in parts of Michigan.

For Iron County families, schools, outdoor workers and event organizers, the answer was to cut outdoor exposure when possible, move activities indoors, and use cleaner indoor air until the smoke thinned. Fine particles in wildfire smoke can worsen breathing problems quickly.