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PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — <\/span>The Delaware Valley is set to experience a dangerous combination of high heat and wildfire smoke.<\/p>\n The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has declared a statewide Code Red Air Quality Action Day for Thursday because of wildfire smoke from Canada and Minnesota that is expected to spread into the state. It has already created hazy conditions across parts of New England and New York.<\/p>\n “Our concern as lung doctors isn’t so much the smog and the smoke. It’s the particles from the smoke, and the combustion that travel hundreds and thousands of miles to get to you,” said Dr. Panagis Galiatsatos, a pulmonologist and professor at Johns Hopkins University.<\/p>\n Latest AccuWeather forecast for the region<\/strong><\/p>\n Dr. Galiatsatos, who also serves as a volunteer with the American Lung Association, said when you breathe those particles, they can get deep inside your lungs and cause inflammation.<\/p>\n He said exposure to them can lead to coughing, headaches and nausea. He also said for people with vascular issues, it can lead to a heart attack or stroke.<\/p>\n 6abc Air Quality Tracker<\/strong> <\/p>\n His best piece of advice for people living in the Philadelphia region is to track the air quality with the weather app on your phone or the Air Now website.<\/a><\/p>\n According to Dr. Galiatsatos, the air quality index, or AQI, is acceptable if it’s between 0 and 50.<\/p>\n But, he said, if the AQI is between 50 and 100, “those with preexisting lung conditions, and those with preexisting heart conditions, you want to try to minimize your time out.”<\/p>\n For anything above 100, Dr. Galiatsatos said everyone, regardless of medical history, should limit their time outside.<\/p>\n He also said masking up might not be the solution in this situation.<\/p>\n “They may help if it’s obvious smoke and smog and so forth, but these are particles that are much smaller. They’ve traveled hundreds of miles. So, the masks don’t necessarily help. They’re not effective in this situation.”<\/p>\n In June 2023, lingering Canadian wildfire smoke led to major air quality issues in Philadelphia. At the time, the AQI reached a maroon level.<\/p>\n James Garrow, Philadelphia’s Deputy Health Commissioner, said that level “is really dangerous for just about everybody, and we made recommendations for everyone to stay inside.”<\/p>\n The city’s air quality is currently at a moderate level.<\/p>\n Garrow told Action News, “The hope is that we won’t reach an orange or red level, but that’s always a possibility.”<\/p>\n “This is an opportunity for folks to listen to their bodies and make sure that if they’re having difficulty breathing, head inside,” he added.<\/p>\n Garrow recommends Philadelphians keep track of the air quality on the Breathe Philly<\/a> website.<\/p>\n Copyright \u00a9 2026 WPVI-TV. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — The Delaware Valley is set to experience a dangerous combination of high heat and wildfire smoke. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has declared a statewide Code Red Air Quality Action Day for Thursday because of wildfire smoke from Canada and Minnesota that is expected to spread into the state. It has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":36835,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cdn.abcotvs.com\/dip\/images\/19517047_071526-wpvi-city-hall-hilly-img.png?w=1600","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11573],"tags":[26480,504,2655,3502,5247,3688,4924,7638,6454,1084],"class_list":["post-36834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-philadelphia-breaking-news","tag-26480","tag-air","tag-alert","tag-issued","tag-moves","tag-philadelphia","tag-quality","tag-region","tag-smoke","tag-wildfire"],"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/cdn.abcotvs.com\/dip\/images\/19517047_071526-wpvi-city-hall-hilly-img.png?w=1600",0,0,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/cdn.abcotvs.com\/dip\/images\/19517047_071526-wpvi-city-hall-hilly-img.png?w=1600",0,0,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/cdn.abcotvs.com\/dip\/images\/19517047_071526-wpvi-city-hall-hilly-img.png?w=1600",0,0,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/cdn.abcotvs.com\/dip\/images\/19517047_071526-wpvi-city-hall-hilly-img.png?w=1600",150,150,false],"medium":["https:\/\/cdn.abcotvs.com\/dip\/images\/19517047_071526-wpvi-city-hall-hilly-img.png?w=1600",300,300,false],"large":["https:\/\/cdn.abcotvs.com\/dip\/images\/19517047_071526-wpvi-city-hall-hilly-img.png?w=1600",1024,1024,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/cdn.abcotvs.com\/dip\/images\/19517047_071526-wpvi-city-hall-hilly-img.png?w=1600",1536,1536,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/cdn.abcotvs.com\/dip\/images\/19517047_071526-wpvi-city-hall-hilly-img.png?w=1600",2048,2048,false],"post-thumbnail":["https:\/\/cdn.abcotvs.com\/dip\/images\/19517047_071526-wpvi-city-hall-hilly-img.png?w=1600",370,265,false],"kava-thumb-s":["https:\/\/cdn.abcotvs.com\/dip\/images\/19517047_071526-wpvi-city-hall-hilly-img.png?w=1600",150,85,false],"kava-thumb-s-2":["https:\/\/cdn.abcotvs.com\/dip\/images\/19517047_071526-wpvi-city-hall-hilly-img.png?w=1600",230,230,false],"kava-thumb-m":["https:\/\/cdn.abcotvs.com\/dip\/images\/19517047_071526-wpvi-city-hall-hilly-img.png?w=1600",400,400,false],"kava-thumb-m-vertical":["https:\/\/cdn.abcotvs.com\/dip\/images\/19517047_071526-wpvi-city-hall-hilly-img.png?w=1600",370,500,false],"kava-thumb-m-2":["https:\/\/cdn.abcotvs.com\/dip\/images\/19517047_071526-wpvi-city-hall-hilly-img.png?w=1600",570,450,false],"kava-thumb-l":["https:\/\/cdn.abcotvs.com\/dip\/images\/19517047_071526-wpvi-city-hall-hilly-img.png?w=1600",1170,650,false],"kava-thumb-xl":["https:\/\/cdn.abcotvs.com\/dip\/images\/19517047_071526-wpvi-city-hall-hilly-img.png?w=1600",1920,1080,false],"kava-thumb-masonry":["https:\/\/cdn.abcotvs.com\/dip\/images\/19517047_071526-wpvi-city-hall-hilly-img.png?w=1600",600,999,false],"kava-thumb-justify":["https:\/\/cdn.abcotvs.com\/dip\/images\/19517047_071526-wpvi-city-hall-hilly-img.png?w=1600",640,640,false],"kava-thumb-justify-2":["https:\/\/cdn.abcotvs.com\/dip\/images\/19517047_071526-wpvi-city-hall-hilly-img.png?w=1600",1280,640,false]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"#RiseCelestialStudios","author_link":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/author\/ralph-c\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"Philadelphia Viral News<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — The Delaware Valley is set to experience a dangerous combination of high heat and wildfire smoke. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has declared a statewide Code Red Air Quality Action Day for Thursday because of wildfire smoke from Canada and Minnesota that is expected to spread into the state. 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