Outdoor workers pushing on through unhealthy air

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - Louisville has experienced very bad air quality days before, but Wednesday could potentially set the new record.

The downtown skyline began to disappear in the smoke filled haze. For many people, going inside just isn’t an option.

Smoke or no smoke, tree workers have a job to get done. No stopping for poor air when a house the weekend storm wrecked needs cleared.

Same with the electrical workers restoring power to people without it since the weekend. The air quality may be unsafe, but this work needs to be done.

“The damage we have to look at for days. It’s used in disasters, it’s used for historical records,” National Weather Service Meteorologist John Gordon said.

Gordon was out conducting storm surveys. He said there isn’t much of a reprieve coming.

“Stuff in Quebec is hitting us, but if the winds change more from the west, we may get the stuff from British Columbia,” Gordon said.

The last time smoke was this bad in Louisville was during wildfires at Ft. Knox in 2010. Still, even though downtown was blanketed in haze and Jeffersonville was hard to see, some people chose to be outdoors.

“Compared to Houston, it’s like 20 degrees cooler with the same kind of air quality situation, so it just feels nicer to be outside Wednesday,” teacher Patrick Rivera said.

Rivera is in Louisville with his students for a national conference. They had a break and he decided to give them a disc golf lesson.

“We wanted to come out and do something since there’s some free time Wednesday,” Rivera said.

And while they were out, more workers, this time from Metro Parks were out cutting the grass.

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