NEW ORLEANS — The dense fog from Monday morning has lifted, but we are still left with smoke in the area from wildfires.
The wetlands in New Orleans East, are still dry from the lack of rainfall, and the fire continues to burn at or below the surface.
And it's hard to reach.
But there are also potential health effects to be concerned about.
Firefighters say fighting what’s burning from above will not work. So, they are trying to clear an access route to the fire in New Orleans East. The Sewerage and Water Board is pumping water out of a drainage canal to flood the area.
It took Martha Lee four hours to get back home to the Southshore. She was on her way to work up by Hammond when the terrible multivehicle wrecks happened.
The smoke, the fog mixed together, it was just, oh my God, could not see anything. And I thank God that I'm off of that bridge into sunshine,” said Martha Lee who commutes to work from Harvey.
The National Weather service calls that combination super fog, not smog, but with the fog lifted she is now dealing with the blanket of smoke over the area.
“That smell is, my sinuses, my sinuses you know. I can't deal with that,” said Lee.
“It's pretty distinctive. It seems to come and go, but it smells sometimes just like something burning, and other times it smells for all the world to me like burning plastic. So, it's a really unusual smell,” said Dr. Judd Shellito, Pulmonary Critical Care Medicine specialist at LSU Health Sciences Center.
The smoke and smell are coming from two forestry wetlands, or march fires in the area. One is more than 100 acres in Laffite, and the other called the Michoud wildfire is at least 200 acres. Dr. Judd Shellito told WWL-TV's Meg Farris certain people need to stay indoors or use an N95 mask. They are children, pregnant women, and people with heart and lung problems.
Meg: “Are the symptoms you get transient, or can this do permanent damage to your lungs or airways?”
Dr. Shellito: “Generally it's transient. If you have bad preexisting lung disease, some of those transient symptoms can wind up putting you in the hospital and putting you on oxygen.”
Monday the air quality was not in the danger zone, but at times has been.
“There was a time last night, yesterday on the 22nd, around 7 p.m. when the air quality index shot up for a brief period of time in New Orleans over 100,” Dr. Shellito said.
“Monday, it's just not a great day at all, not a great day,” lamented Lee.
The City of New Orleans is giving out free N95 and KN95 masks at the following locations:
- New Orleans East Regional Library (5641 Read Blvd.): Monday - Thursday, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
- Joe Brown Recreation Center (5601 Read Blvd.): Monday - Friday, from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
- Sanchez Multi-Service Center (1616 Fats Domino Ave): Monday - Friday, from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
- Algiers Regional Library (3014 Holiday Drive), Monday - Thursday, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
► Get breaking news from your neighborhood delivered directly to you by downloading the new FREE WWL-TV News app now in the IOS App Store or Google Play.