Smoke From New Jersey Wildfire Blankets New York City

Much of the New York City region was under an air quality advisory on Thursday morning as smoke from one of New Jersey’s largest wildfires in two decades made its way north.

The fire, which has been burning in Ocean County since Tuesday morning, has grown to 13,250 acres, mostly in the heavily forested Pine Barrens. Earlier this week the fire forced officials to shut down the Garden State Parkway miles and prompted the temporary evacuation of thousands of people in Ocean and Lacey Townships, the state’s Forest Fire Service said.

Smoke from the fires spread over a large portion of New Jersey on Tuesday and Wednesday, prompting warnings about the air quality and at times irritating peoples’ eyes and making it difficult to breathe.

By Thursday, the smoke had spread to the north, prompting an air quality health advisory that was in effect through the end of the day for New York City, as well as Bronx, Kings, Queens, Richmond, Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester and Rockland Counties. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation warned that the air quality index, a measure of pollutants, was likely to reach above 100, which means the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups like very young people or those with asthma or other respiratory problems.

By 5 a.m., the air quality index for the New York City region had reached 83, while Long Island was at 33. Newark was at 80 and Philadelphia at 77.

Southwesterly winds on Thursday afternoon were expected to spread the wildfire smoke toward Long Island.