On Wednesday, July 15th, wind patterns brought smoke from Canadian wildfires down to the northeastern United States, creating dangerous air quality levels across the region. In the Hudson Valley, HVCAN monitored the drastic changes in air quality, sending air quality alert messages to community members signed up on the JustAir platform. At certain moments on the following Thursday, the Air Quality Index in Kingston reported dangerously high numbers above 300 on the Air Quality Index (AQI). 

The smoke event lasted multiple days, and Bard’s Center for Environmental Studies and Humanities kept community members updated on real time local changes in air quality throughout the smoke event. It’s essential for community members to know when air quality levels are unhealthy so they can take proper measures to protect their health and safety, including staying indoors with windows and doors shut, wearing masks (N95 or better) when outside, and using air filters indoors to improve air quality. 

Here are some press that covered our network during our most recent wildfire smoke event:

Chronogram:

https://www.chronogram.com/river-newsroom/trn_health/whats-polluting-the-hudson-valleys-air/

Radio Kingston: 

https://www.radiokingston.org/why-local-tracking-for-air-quality-matters-especially-now-middays-with-julia/

Mid Hudson News:

https://midhudsonnews.com/2026/07/16/air-quality-alert-canadian-forest-fires/