Yosemite fire blamed for hazy Vegas skies

By Mary Manning

Wednesday, July 30, 2008 | 4:15 p.m.

The haze hanging over the southwestern and western sides of Las Vegas Valley today drifted on northwest winds from a 50-square-mile wildfire burning near Yosemite National Park, the National Weather Service said.

"It's probably the Yosemite fire because there's no other burning right now," said weather service lead forecaster Andy Gorelow.

Northwest winds pushed the smoke southeast across California and into Nevada, Gorelow said.

The temperature reached 106 degrees in the valley at 3:30 p.m., baking the pollution.

Clark County Air Quality Division pollution monitors indicated particles and ozone in the moderate category in the western and southwestern sections of the valley. The agency had not issued an air quality alert.

Wildfires in California have been burning since the first day of summer in June. In total, more than 2,000 wildfires have scorched about 1,700 square miles in that state, most on national forest land, the National Interagency Fire Council said.