Protect yourself from wildfire smoke and poor Air quality

As the Apple Fire continues to burn in Cherry Valley. A smoke advisory is now in place for our valley until Tuesday evening.

"It smelled like smoke," said Robert from Palm Springs. "I really couldn't see ashes coming down but there was a dark could where the sun didn't shine through."

That dark blanket of smoke was seen for miles.

"Its just smoke that is raising up there, depending how hot the fire is burning and how complete is," said Captain Nathan Gunkel, Palm Springs Fire Public Information Officer. "The thicker amount of burnt particles in the air."

Robert Alvarez of Indio is on high alert after taking a walk with his one year old son this weekend.

"We noticed it was really hard for us to breathe feeling that for ourselves we said you know what we are going to have to cut it short unfortunately our son was very upset about it but we had to think about his safety and for ourselves," said Alvarez.

The winds were picking up in Desert Hot Springs and a blanket of smoke lingered in the air but experts are advising on ways we can protect ourselves from wildfire smoke and poor air quality.

"Limiting activity as much as possible, keeping those windows closed making sure those filters are up to date or replaced and wearing an n-95 mask is your going out and about for those high risk groups especially," said Dr. Justin Thomas, Pulmonologist at Eisenhower Health.

Eisenhower Health Pulmonologist, Dr. Justin Thomas said his team has already treated three patients affected by our current air quality so he advises.

"Patients who have chronic asthma, patients who have COPD of significance, or other chronic lung diseases and anybody who has significant heart disease in addition to the children and elderly," said Dr. Thomas.

But what are the warning signs you should look out for in this smokey environment.

"Headaches , blurry itchy, watery eyes, you can get a sour throat it can get start increasing going down deeper into the lungs where you can start getting some wheezing or trouble breathing," said Captain Gunkel.

We continue to monitor the Apple Fire burning north of Cherry Valley in Riverside County. As of 7:16 a.m. this Monday, the fire burned over 26,000 acres acres with 5% containment. Due to the smoke plumes and winds, there is a Smoke Advisory for the Coachella Valley through Monday. This could produce unhealthy to very unhealthy air quality for the region. Sunday, we even saw much of our skies covered with this smoke. We will keep you updated on this Smoke Advisory and if South Coast Air Quality Management District extends it. More details on this advisory can be found here, http://www.aqmd.gov/docs/default-source/air-quality/advisories/wildfire-smoke-advisories/apple-fire.pdf.