Wildfires in Ocean County, N.J., not expected to affect Long Island air quality 

Firefighters from the New Jersey Forest Fire Service continued battling pine barren fires in Ocean County on Friday evening, but the blaze will probably not impact the air quality on Long Island, according to the National Weather Service.

The fire service, in online social media posts updated at 8 p.m. Wednesday, said the blaze which has stretched to 15,300 acres, destroyed one commercial structure and threatened several others, has been 60% contained.

The official U.S. Environmental Protection Agency air quality monitoring website, AirNow, indicated air quality throughout Nassau and Suffolk counties was "Good," the best-possible level, as of 8 p.m., despite the site's earlier forecast for Friday that predicted air quality would have deteriorated to the "Moderate" level. The air quality is also forecast to reach the "Moderate" level on Saturday.

But rain and shifting winds are likely enough to spare Long Island's air quality, according to meteorologist James Connolly with the National Weather Service's Upton office.

Although the winds will be blowing from the south Saturday morning, "the rain will likely precipitate any smoke out," Connolly said in a telephone interview Friday evening. "We're not expecting air quality issues."

By Saturday evening, the wind direction will shift and blow from the northwest through Sunday, according to Connolly.

"That will tend to keep any smoke from reaching the area," the meteorologist added.

Air quality is broken down into six defining categories by AirNow: Good, Moderate, Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups, Unhealthy, Very Unhealthy and Hazardous. The EPA defines "Good" as having air pollution that poses "little or no risk," while "Moderate" air quality index levels define any pollutants in the air as being acceptable, though they could pose "a moderate health concern" for a very limited number of at-risk people who suffer from respiratory issues.

In a statement covering New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania earlier Friday, the weather service said humidity values and wind conditions combined with temperatures will be conducive to the "continued drying on fine fuels," which could lead to the spread of wildfires.

"Outdoor burning is strongly discouraged" in those areas, the weather service warned, adding: "Be sure to properly extinguish or dispose of any potential ignition sources, including smoking materials such as cigarette butts."