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Nov 01, 2023

Wildfire Smoke: Skies Darken as Air Alerts Are Issued Across Northern U.S.

Smoke from the hundreds of wildfires blazing in eastern Canada has drifted

Smoke from the hundreds of wildfires blazing in eastern Canada has drifted south, casting a hazy pall over New York City and triggering air alerts from Minnesota to Massachusetts.

Follow our updates on the wildfires, smoke and air pollution.

Jesus Jiménez, Derrick Bryson Taylor and Judson Jones

A smoky haze floated over a wide swath of the northern United States on Tuesday from Canada, where hundreds of wildfires were blazing, triggering air alerts from Minnesota to Massachusetts.

In Ontario, a layer of haze blanketed parts of Ottawa and Toronto, where Canadian officials warned residents about the poor air quality, as smoke floated over portions of New York State and Vermont. All of New York City was under an air quality alert on Tuesday because of the smoke; by the afternoon, the Manhattan skyline was obscured by hazy skies.

More than 400 active wildfires were burning in Canada on Tuesday, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center, exacerbating an already active wildfire season that is only expected to worsen. More than 200 of the fires were burning out of control, the agency said.

In eastern Canada, Quebec was most affected by wildfires as of Tuesday night, with more than 150 active blazes across the area, according to the fire agency. Residents in some areas were being encouraged to shut their windows and doors, local officials in Quebec said.

Videos and images showed some fires blazing for miles, sending dark smoke plumes billowing into the sky.

Here's what else to know about the smoke:

As of Monday, an estimated 26,000 people across Canada had been evacuated from their homes because of wildfires, Bill Blair, Canada's minister of public safety, said at the news conference."The images that we have seen so far this season are some of the most severe ever witnessed in Canada," Mr. Blair said.

Bands of smoke from the wildfires shifted southward across the border on Tuesday, creating hazy skies and prompting the U.S. National Weather Service to issue air quality alerts for parts of the Northeast and upper Great Lakes regions.

Weather officials warned that people more sensitive to poor air quality, such as people with lung disease and heart disease, children and older adults, should limit certain activities outdoors.

New York State officials said that an air quality health advisory alert would be in effect for much of the state starting at midnight. Long Island, New York City and the Central and Western New York regions will be affected through Wednesday night.

Similar alerts were issued for parts of Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont.

Molly Peterson

Thick smoke can sneak into your home through loose seals and cracks; closing those up can help. Simply shutting windows can cut pollution by about 30 percent. If it still smells like a barbecue inside on a smoky day, placing wet towels around cracks under doors and around windows can slow smoke's entry into your home.

The E.P.A. also recommends avoiding activities like cooking, vacuuming or smoking on smoky days, which can stir up pollutants already inside your home. And the American Lung Association recommends using a good welcome mat to wipe your shoes on, or taking shoes off altogether when you’re walking around inside your house, to avoid tracking in contaminants.

If your indoor space is larger than an air purifier can filter, the E.P.A. recommends dedicating one room as a "clean room" to use as a refuge on smokier days. But avoid using rooms where you create smoke or other particles indoors, like the kitchen, or any room with a lot of windows and doors.

Ed Shanahan

Mayor Eric Adams said in a news release late Tuesday that by 10 p.m. air quality in parts of New York City had become "very unhealthy," rising to 218 on the Environmental Protection Agency's Air Quality Index.

New York's air quality rating briefly ranked as the worst of any city in the world on Tuesday, according to the IQAir World Air Quality Index. By comparison, the city's air quality has generally been below 50 on the index in recent years, in the "good category," and even improved during the pandemic-driven lockdown in 2020, according to IQAir.

"While conditions are anticipated to temporarily improve later tonight through tomorrow morning, they are expected to deteriorate further tomorrow afternoon and evening," Mr. Adams warned. He noted that the state's Department of Environmental Conservation had issued a citywide air-quality health advisory.

The mayor indicated that the city's schools would be open on Wednesday and he urged all students to attend, but he added that schools would not be holding outdoor activities. About 10 Public Schools Athletic League baseball and softball games had been scheduled for Wednesday.

"We recommend all New Yorkers limit outdoor activity to the greatest extent possible," Mr. Adams said. "Those with pre-existing respiratory problems, like heart or breathing problems, as well as children and older adults, may be especially sensitive and should stay indoors at this time."

The mayor said he would brief the public on his administration's plans Wednesday morning.

Vjosa Isai

As fires continue to rage in eastern Canada, parts of southern Ontario, including Toronto, are bracing for several days of polluted air, peaking on Thursday.

Winds have been pushing plumes of wildfire smoke from Quebec across southern Ontario, causing reduced air quality and visibility, said Katrina Eyk, a senior meteorologist at Environment and Climate Change Canada, the federal ministry.

"It's still pretty yucky out there," said Ms. Eyk, speaking from Toronto on Tuesday evening. "But on Thursday, it looks like with the wind overall shifting to the northeast, that plume could move directly overtop of the Greater Toronto Area and give pretty poor conditions."

Smoky skies hung over eastern Ontario on Tuesday, with few shadows cast by the obscured sun in Ottawa. The capital, Kingston and Belleville all recorded some of the highest risk ratings on the province's air quality health index.

A cold front on Saturday is slated to shift the winds back east, blowing lingering smoke out, and could bring scattered showers in Toronto, Ms. Eyk said.

Ed Shanahan

In a message posted on Twitter late Tuesday, Nathaniel Styer, a spokesman for New York City Public Schools, said education officials were "making schools aware of the air quality health advisory," "recommending that outdoor activity be limited" and asking that "special attention be made to vulnerable students and staff populations." It was not clear whether Public Schools Athletic League games scheduled for Wednesday would be postponed.

Ken Sturtz and Cole Louison

Among the most peculiar parts of the smoky haze that has settled over the northern United States is the wide variety of colors it seems to create — not just gray but also yellow, orange and even purple.

Dan Delfuoco of Syracuse, N.Y., noticed the peculiar ability of the smoke to warp colors when he looked out his window Tuesday morning, and the sky had a golden hue. "It felt like it was constantly sunset," he said. "I was like, was it really 10 a.m.?"

Mr. Delfuoco recently took up photography and wanted to shoot sunsets and reasoned that the smoke in the air would allow him to capture some particularly vivid colors. He and a friend, Jillian LaPoint, drove 40 miles from Syracuse to Breitbeck Park in the city of Oswego, N.Y., on Lake Ontario, a popular sunset photography spot.

He dusted off a box of surgical masks left over from the coronavirus pandemic just to be safe. "It definitely felt kind of nostalgic to put one on," he said.

Mr. Delfuoco's bet about the sunset proved to be correct, though clouds eventually blocked his view. The smoke gave the sun a brilliant reddish-orange tint.

"It was like nothing I had ever seen before," he said. "It was just red the whole time."

"It was like an orange haze," Ms. LaPoint said. "It kind of looked like the apocalypse was coming."

In Fairport, N.Y., outside of Rochester, a man reported a light purple sky and a "sickly blood-orange" sun.

And in Macedon, N.Y., Ann Schauman described the sky as beige and the sun as bright red.

"I’m on a hill, so I’ve been able to see this smoke-fog, whatever you call it, very clearly," said Ms. Schauman, owner of Ann's Purple Produce, a small organic farm. "I’ve lived on the land 48 years and I’ve never seen anything like it out here."

Ernesto Londoño and Eduardo Medina

Officials in Minnesota warned residents that smoke from the Canadian wildfires could blanket much of the state on Tuesday, potentially bringing unhealthy pollutant levels to thousands.

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, which issued an air quality alert on Monday, said that a band of smoke from wildfires in Quebec would linger in the state on Tuesday because of "very light winds."

The heaviest smoke was projected to reach the southeast corner of the state, where fine particle levels were expected to reach the red category, which is considered "unhealthy for everyone," according to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.

In east central Minnesota, which includes the Twin Cities, pollutant levels were expected to reach an orange category that is considered to be unhealthy for sensitive groups, the agency said.

The heaviest smoke was expected to be near Rochester and Winona, about 100 miles southeast of Minneapolis.

The air quality on Tuesday night appeared to be normal in the state, according to a forecast map on the agency's website. In Minneapolis, the sky was mostly cloudless in the evening.

Smoke was expected to linger in east central and southeast Minnesota through late Tuesday, the agency said.

Jon Hurdle

Looking out from the 18th floor of a skyscraper in downtown Philadelphia on Tuesday afternoon, Megan Harper noticed that the city looked different. The light, filtered through a fog of smoke particles, cast the buildings in a "shimmery purple."

The city felt different, too. The poor air quality kept her "sneezing like a maniac" on her walk home.

Wildfires raging in eastern Canada have sent smoke drifting south, shrouding areas of the United States — like Philadelphia — largely unaccustomed to the effects of the conflagrations that tend to consume landscapes in the West. The hazy skies that draped Philadelphia reminded Ms. Harper, she said, of a visit to Colorado, where the air had been polluted by fires in Montana.

Carolyn Moneymaker, a software engineer who works in Center City Philadelphia, used to live in Colorado. During wildfires there, she said, the smoke would obscure the sun much as it did in Philadelphia on Tuesday.

"You would get this very distinct look where the sun is clearly shining but something is in front of it," Ms. Moneymaker, who now lives in suburban Malvern, Pa. "You can see something is blocking it out."

When she was out walking on Monday, Ms. Moneymaker noticed a grayish tinge to the sky. By Tuesday, she could hardly see other buildings from the window of her 27th floor of her workplace.

Maddy Wescott, a product manager for a technology company, said she noticed the poor air quality when she went outside her office building on Monday.

"I sat outside on the patio, and I could not stop coughing," said Ms. Wescott, 28, who lives in the Fairmount section of Philadelphia. "I almost went back in."

Tracey Tully

In Jackson, N.J., residents were coping with more than just poor air quality from Canadian wildfires. New Jersey's Forest Fire Service was struggling to contain a wildfire that was covering about 30 acres Tuesday evening near East Commodore Boulevard and Cedar Swamp Road in Jackson, a 60,000-resident community in Ocean County. Several roadswere closed and 30 structures were at risk of being consumed by fire, state officials said.

Scott Dodd

As wildfire smoke fills the skies with gray haze, it can also turn the sun (or moon) a bright red. I asked Kofi Donnelly, who teaches physics at a Brooklyn high school, to explain why. White light from the sun is made up of all colors in the spectrum, he said. But smoke particles in the air "tend to scatter the shorter wavelengths (bluish light) more than the longer wavelengths (reddish light). Therefore bluish light from the sun is scattered in a bunch of directions (not into your eyes), while reddish light still gets to your eyes."

Jesus Jimenez

That's a wrap in the Bronx, where the Yankees lost 3-2 against the Chicago White Sox. The announced attendance was 38,049 fans, who watched a two-hour and 28-minute ballgame on a night when officials were recommending limiting time outdoors. Several other minor league baseball games in the Northeast also went on tonight despite air quality alerts.

Nate Schweber, Joshua Needelman, Ellen Yan and Liset Cruz

Grayish air, mysterious coughs, apocalyptic thoughts: New York City was enveloped in a strange waking bad dream Tuesday evening. The few who ventured out expressed confusion over the city's altered state.

On the pedestrian bridge over the Long Island Expressway in Forest Hills, Gerard Berman gazed at the Manhattan skyline on his way home, but it was hidden by fog.

"The eeriness of it all, it really drew me in," said Mr. Berman, who lives in Rego Park. "It's like Halloween in spring."

In downtown Manhattan, foot traffic was sparse. Those outside held phones aloft and snapped pictures. Outdoor tables at one Italian restaurant were untouched. From the Battery Park Esplanade, the outline of the Statue of Liberty was barely visible.

"I didn't notice it until my throat started hurting," said Liz Flores, who operates a fruit and grocery stand at the corner of 231st Street and Broadway. She plans to wear a mask tomorrow.

"What is happening out here?" Luis Nazario, 35, shouted in the street, nearby. He was helping a customer with bags at the Lot-Less. He said he had a headache all day. "Since earlier I was like wondering why it's so smoky," Mr. Nazario said. "This looks like, have you seen ‘Crow’? ‘City of Angels’? It's kind of like what the film looks like."

In Williamsburg's Domino Park Jocelynn Loebl wore a black mask as she walked her dog. "I’d rather keep that smoke out of my lungs," she said. "I’m coughing." She had words of mock gratitude for the smoke's source: "Thanks, Canada."

Ayse Muratoglu took photos of the skyline with her cellphone and spoke in apocalyptic movie terms. "It's pretty scary, very ominous, quite eerie, almost in a cinematic sense," said Ms. Muratoglu, a marketing manager for a natural food company.

Leo Prather, 27, and his girlfriend Bernice Noel, 25, said their asthma had been exacerbated by the smoke. "I coughed real hard earlier in the day, and I couldn't understand why," Mr. Prather said.

Molly Peterson

By some estimates, a good air filtration system can cut smoke pollution indoors by about 50 to 80 percent. When skies grow hazy, if you have central air and heating, close your windows and switch your system's filtration settings to recirculate.

Adding a higher efficiency filter, like one with at least a Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value (MERV) 13 rating, to central air systems makes them even more effective at removing small particles from smoke. If you don't have central air, portable air purifiers with HEPA filters can work well in smaller spaces.

Experts caution that you should avoid using air purifiers that rely on and emit ozone, which can be harmful even at low levels and can irritate the lungs. Check with your local public agencies to see if they provide guidance or financial support for buying air filters. Low-income people with certain respiratory conditions who live in the Bay Area, for instance, are eligible for free portable air filters.

If you can't find an affordable air purifier, you can make one out of a box fan, some tape and some high efficiency filters.

Jesus Jimenez

Bryan Ramsey, a National Weather Service meteorologist in New York, said that the New York City area could see some smoke clear by Wednesday morning, but that it was possible another thick plume of smoke could move into the region by Wednesday afternoon, much like the one New Yorkers saw on Tuesday. "It's going to be here for a while," Mr. Ramsey said of the smoke.

Raymond Zhong

A landmark United Nations report concluded last year that the risk of devastating wildfires around the world will surge in coming decades as climate change further intensifies what the report described as a "global wildfire crisis."

The scientific assessment is the first by the organization's environmental authority to evaluate wildfire risks worldwide. It was inspired by a string of deadly blazes around the globe in recent years, burning the American West, vast stretches of Australia and even the Arctic.

The images from those fires — cities glowing under orange skies, smoke billowing around tourist havens and heritage sites, woodland animals badly injured and killed — have become grim icons of this era of unsettled relations between humankind and nature.

"The heating of the planet is turning landscapes into tinderboxes," said the report, which was published by the United Nations Environment Program.

The report, produced by more than 50 researchers from six continents, estimated that the risk worldwide of highly devastating fires could increase by up to 57 percent by the end of the century, primarily because of climate change. The risks will not be distributed equally: Some regions are likely to see more fire activity, while others may experience less.

In some regions with long histories of brush fires, such as eastern Australia and the western United States and Canada, they have become more intense over the last decade and are ravaging larger areas, the report found.

In a moderate scenario for global warming, the likelihood of extreme, catastrophic fires could increase by up to a third by 2050 and up to 52 percent by 2100, the report estimates. If emissions are not curbed and the planet heats up more, wildfire risks could rise by up to 57 percent by the end of the century.

Jesus Jimenez

New York City has the worst air quality of any major city in the world right now, according to a live ranking by IQAir, a technology company that tracks air quality and pollution around the world. Historically, New York City does not rank in the top 3,000 cities with the worst air quality, according to IQAir.

Ben Shpigel

The New York Road Runners, the organization that owns and stages the New York City Marathon, urged runners living in areas polluted by the smoke to consider not running on Global Running Day on Wednesday. Jennifer Stowell, a postdoctoral fellow at Boston University's School of Public Health, who has studied the health effects of wildfires, told The Times in 2020 that wildfire smoke "may be more toxic" to the lungs than standard urban air pollution.

June 7 is Global Running Day, but if you're in NYC or any affected area, please read and follow your city's health advisory regarding air quality, and consider running another day. pic.twitter.com/YPYfgr284b

Eduardo Medina

Max Bowie watched as his twin 8-year-old daughters pulled their tie-dyed peach sweaters over their faces, walking quickly. They were near their Queens apartment, but Bowie said he couldn't help but feel alarmed and frustrated over the air conditions. World leaders, he said, need to take more action on environmental issues. One of his daughters removed the sweater from her mouth to ask a question: "Will the rain wash away all the smoke?"

Molly Peterson

If a wildfire is close enough that you can see flames or if your community is blanketed in smoke and ash, you should be prepared to evacuate if you’re instructed to do so, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Even if you’re far from flames, but the smoke is darkening your skies, your safest choice may be to leave, Dr. Prunicki said. If that's not feasible, the likely next best thing is to stay inside and take steps to limit your smoke exposure.

According to the E.P.A., vulnerable people like older adults, children and those with heart or lung conditions should avoid going outside when the air quality index — a numerical value from 0 to 500 that indicates air pollution and health risk levels — goes over 100. Anything over 150 means it's unhealthy for anyone to be outside without a high-quality mask.

You can consult AirNow's interactive fire and smoke map, a federally-run tracker for air quality conditions. PurpleAir can also offer a more local picture of air quality, as can other products and apps, like IQAir and BreezoMeter.

For children, safety concerns arise when the air quality index is even lower. Because breathing smoke can increase the risk of asthma in children and might even have irreversible consequences for their immune cells, experts recommend that, when the air quality index is above 50, caregivers should start thinking about keeping children inside, especially if they already have asthma.

Jesus Jimenez

Nightfall appeared to arrive early as the Yankees and Chicago White Sox were heading into the bottom of the sixth inning under a dark haze at Yankee Stadium.

Molly Peterson

Limiting your time outside is a good start. There is no safe distance from smoke, and its health effects can accumulate. So if you must go outdoors, wearing a high quality mask, such as an N95 respirator, is essential.

Reporters at Wirecutter, a New York Times Company that reviews and recommends products, suggest choosing a mask that filters exhalations as well as inhalation air. You want to check to make sure the mask has a good seal around your nose and mouth. Cloth masks are less effective.

And keep in mind that no mask will protect you 100 percent. "Wearing an N95 reduces your exposure, but if you have to go out, you will get exposed," Dr. Balmes said.

There's also some evidence that you may want to protect your skin when you go outside. In a first-of-its-kind study published in 2021, researchers found associations between short term smoke exposure and health care visits for itchy skin and eczema.

Some skin care creams and products with labels like "antipollution" or "pollution protection" probably won't help much. Though applying a lotion with emollient properties — like shea butter, lanolin or petroleum jelly — before you go outside may help create an artificial barrier on your skin. Dermatologists advise that you avoid smoke if you can, cover up with long sleeves and pants if you have to go outside, and cleanse your skin after spending time outdoors to remove any pollutants.

Dan Higgins and Ken Sturtz

In New York City, the smoky air and dark skies may have come as a surprise on Tuesday, but elsewhere in the state, the effects of the Canadian fires had been evident for days.

In Buffalo and around Western New York, the skies have been suffused with a silver-gray haze since early last week.

"When the sun rises, it's an unusual bright orange color," said Richard Linn, of Orchard Park, who is out early every morning with his dogs. "There's a decidedly smoky smell," he added.

In Buffalo's northern suburbs last Friday, the smoke created the conditions for a peculiar sunset. The sun was a deep, bright orange and, at times, appeared as just a small point in the sky, as if it was sinking into the haze.

A local TV station published footage from a webcam overlooking downtown Buffalo, where the smoke appeared thick enough to look like fog.

In Oswego, on the shore of Lake Ontario, the smoke created a haze that settled over the city on Tuesday and gave the sky a yellowish tint most of the day. By evening, a steady breeze had picked up but the smell of smoke was still detectable, and the streets were mostly empty.

School districts in Oswego County canceled athletic events and outdoor after-school activities. The Oswego Little League said it was canceling all of its games out of an abundance of caution. Even a planned D-Day ceremony in the nearby city of Fulton to honor a soldier who received the Medal of Honor for his actions on June 6, 1944, was postponed.

In Manhattan Tuesday evening, some commuters were startled by smell.

At the subway station at West 86th Street and Broadway around 6:45 p.m., passengers trudged up the stairs and onto the street and gasped. The sky was a strange orange-gray, and the cool air smelled of smoke.

"This morning, it smelled like burnt toast, but now it's more like campfire," said Benjamin Lukas, 47, who was on his way to his mother's apartment to cook her dinner. "It's just wild."

Mr. Lucas worried about his mother's breathing — and hoped that she had her windows shut, despite the cost of air-conditioning.

Up the street, Genevieve Cruz was making a quick pit-stop into the CVS on Amsterdam Avenue, hoping the pharmacy was still selling masks. "I used to have one on me all the time for Covid," she said. "I can't believe I don't even have a single one anymore."

For some New Yorkers, the news of the Canadian wildfires came as a surprise, even as they breathed in the smoky air. "That's what this is?" asked Joe Lerner, as he stood waiting for a crosstown bus. "I figured it was a building fire or something." Already, he said, his throat felt a little sore.

Eduardo Medina

New York State officials said that an air quality health advisory, an alert that indicates a health concern related to pollution in an area, will be in effect for much of the state starting at midnight. Long Island, New York City, eastern Lake Ontario, Central New York and Western New York will be affected.

Molly Peterson

Wildfire smoke contains a complex mix of gases, hazardous air pollutants, water vapor and particulate matter (or particle pollution), which pose the greatest threat.

Some of those particles, including dust, dirt, soot or smoke, are so large or dark that they can be seen with the naked eye. But the tiniest of them — microscopic particles that are about one-fifth to one-thirtieth as wide as a human hair — can travel deep into your lungs and even into your bloodstream. There, they can cause inflammation and dampen your immune system.

While ash and soot from burning wood are some of the most concerning types of particle pollution, wildfire smoke can also contain other toxic and cancer-causing substances, including chemicals, heavy metals and plastics. Indeed, said Dr. John Balmes, a pulmonologist and professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco: Smoke from fires is "pretty much like tobacco smoke without the nicotine."

Breathing in wildfire smoke can make anyone cough, wheeze and struggle for air. It can irritate your eyes, nose and throat, and cause headaches.

Felice Belman

On her way home from work on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, Genevieve Cruz was making a quick pitstop into the CVS on Amsterdam Avenue, hoping the pharmacy was still selling masks. "I used to have one on me all the time for Covid," she said. "I can't believe I don't even have a single one anymore."

Madison Dong

Hundreds of wildfires were burning in Canada on Tuesday, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center, as fires have broken out across the country in recent weeks. Quebec alone had more than 150 active blazes across the province, the fire agency said.

Felice Belman

At a subway station on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, commuters trudged up the stairs and onto the street and gasped. The sky was a strange orange-ish gray, and the cool air smelled of smoke. "This morning, it smelled like burnt toast, but now it's more like campfire," said Benjamin Lukas, 47, who was on his way to his mother's apartment to cook her dinner. "It's just wild." Mr. Lukas worried about his mother's breathing.

Eduardo Medina

The North Carolina Environmental Quality Department said the state would be under Code Red or Code Orange air quality alerts on Wednesday because of the "rapidly rising levels of fine particle pollution attributed to smoke" from the wildfires. Officials are urging residents to stay indoors as much as possible, particularly those with asthma.

Jesus Jimenez

A minor league baseball game scheduled for tonight in Moosic, Pa., between the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders and the Norfolk Tides was postponed tonight because of air quality concerns. Meanwhile in the Bronx, where smoke was visible on Tuesday night, the New York Yankees and the Chicago White Sox played on.

Eduardo Medina

Across Athens Square Park in Queens, Fennel Robinson was quickly walking back to his apartment, eager to avoid breathing in the poor air. He had wondered if there was a fire close by before seeing the news about the Canadian wildfires. "It's crazy," he said. "But what can you do?" He continued past the park, where three children had paused their playing to point at the sky.

Scott Dodd

Practice was cancelled for a youth soccer league in Montclair, N.J., at around 6 p.m. as wildfire smoke darkened the sky over the fields in Brookdale Park, and parents expressed concerns about the health risks for players.

Eduardo Medina

Jon Barr, 38, who was waiting for a ride in Queens on Tuesday evening, said he worried about being outside. In his 12 years of living in New York City, he said, he had never seen a sky this ashen. "It's kind of like a horror movie."

Eduardo Medina

In Astoria, Queens, residents walking home looked up at the sky, which had a fluorescent, gray glow, as if a thunderstorm were passing through. One man covering his face with his jacket said of the atmosphere: "It feels like a bonfire."