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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Continuing air quality issues due to the devastating Camp fire in Butte County have led several Lake County school districts to decide they will be closed for the remainder of the week.
On Tuesday night, Kelseyville, Konocti and Middletown Unified school districts announced closures for the rest of this week, while Lakeport Unified reported that it will be closed on Wednesday.
Kelseyville and Konocti Unified district officials reported on Facebook that those districts would resume normal operations on Nov. 26, after the Thanksgiving vacation.
The Upper Lake Unified School District reported that its governing board decided that schools there will remain open, and that monitoring of the situation will continue.
Lucerne Elementary School reported that it also will be open on Wednesday.
The Lake County Office of Education’s Hance Community School and Clearlake Creativity School will be closed on Wednesday, as will all of its preschools, with the exception of Lucerne. The agency said its preschools follow the lead of the host school.
As of Tuesday night, the Camp fire had burned 130,000 acres and nearly 8,000 structures, with 48 confirmed dead, making it the most devastating fire in California’s recorded history.
A number of local school districts had been closed late last week due to the smoke from the Camp fire, which began Thursday, as Lake County News has reported.
On Tuesday morning, following the Veterans Day weekend, Lakeport Unified, the Lake County Office of Education’s Hance and Clearlake Creativity schools, Lucerne Elementary, Kelseyville Unified, Konocti Unified and Middletown Unified canceled classes. Upper Lake Unified remained open.
In explaining the air quality conditions, Air Pollution Control Officer Doug Gearhart of the Lake County Quality Management District said Tuesday that smoke from the Camp fire settled in and remained throughout Lake County in the overnight hours, with most areas experiencing heavy smoke or haze with air quality reaching “unhealthy” to “very unhealthy” ranges.
The Tuesday night closure decisions followed air quality testing completed earlier in the day in school district classrooms and other common indoor areas with assistance from the Lake County Air Quality Management District, according to Rob Young, emergency preparedness and special projects coordinator for the Lake County Office of Education.
During Tuesday’s indoor testing, it was determined that the air quality rating was unhealthy for sensitive groups in many classrooms and school buildings. Children under the age of 18 are considered a “sensitive group,” Young said.
Young said school staff throughout Lake County will continue to actively monitoring air quality levels to ensure student safety.
In making their separate announcements, district officials explained the closures in light of those testing results.
Lakeport Unified Superintendent April Leiferman said in a post on the district’s Facebook page on Tuesday night that, although the air quality outside had improved a bit on Tuesday, the inside air was tested in classrooms and buildings throughout the district.
“Unfortunately, all classrooms that were monitored registered in the unhealthy for under 18 and unhealthy range. This means that even with the doors closed, the inside air is still too smokey for our children,” Leiferman wrote.
Similarly, Middletown Unified reported on its Facebook page that officials there discovered “discovered that the air quality in some of our classrooms and gym, after four days of being closed up, is at unhealthy levels or high moderate levels, very close to unhealthy. Our concern must always be the health of our students and staff.”
The post continued, “A second consideration is that all children are considered a sensitive group in terms of air quality. This means they need to stay indoors when air quality index is higher than 100. The forecast is for our air quality to stay well above 100 for the rest of the week. With the air quality in our classrooms being close to unhealthy or unhealthy, staying indoors may not be a healthy option.”
While acknowledging the unhealthy air quality conditions, Mendocino College said Tuesday that all of its locations were open for normal business hours going forward unless otherwise posted. The district encouraged everyone on campus to wear N-95 masks when outside with masks available at the vice president’s office on the Ukiah campus while supplies last.
The Lake County Campus of Woodland Community College said classes will be in session on Wednesday, with instructors to work with students who are unable to attend classes.
The Web site PurpleAir showed air sensor readings around Lake County that predominantly were in the “unhealthy” range, which conditions in Clearlake Oaks and in Cobb in the lower “warning” category.
Gearhart said Tuesday that Lake County’s air quality conditions remained in the “unhealthy” range.
He said the overnight forecast indicates a potential for settling of smoke into the basin. In areas that become impacted by smoke, “unhealthy” or “hazardous” air quality may be experienced. With light Northwest winds in the forecast, there is a potential for improving conditions through this week.
Weather forecasts do not show significant improvement in the next few days, but minor variations in wind direction can result in improved conditions, and all Lake County residents should be prepared for smoke throughout the region until the fire is out, Gearhart said.
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