Smoke from wildfires keeps making N.J.’s air quality worse. It may be a ‘warning sign.’

Air quality alerts popped up on the phones of people in at least four New Jersey counties this week.

As flames from a sizable wildfire in Ocean County stretched across thousands of acres and smoke enveloped the sky, families were right to be worried about the air.

Several southern coastal areas on Wednesday were listed in the “red zone” with an air quality index of 173, according to AirNow (an AQI above 100 is considered unhealthy).

The “Jones Road Wildfire” burned at least 15,250 acres as of Thursday, with concerns over air quality continuing days after the fire began.

Residents two years ago, many wearing masks left over from the coronavirus pandemic, were similarly worried when wildfire smoke from Canada drifted into the region.

“Wildfires are a major contributor to New Jersey’s worsening particle pollution grades as the combustion of wood directly leads to particulate matter,” Mike Seilback, who focuses on state public policy for the American Lung Association, told NJ Advance Media.

The American Lung Association — in new analysis released this week — said the smoke from the 2023 Canadian wildfires — was so bad the 13counties in New Jersey that were graded for the daily measure of fine particle pollution posted worse average results, respectively, than the previous report.

Exposure can have cardiovascular- and respiratory-related health effects and have even harsher impacts for older residents, those under 18, outdoor workers, pregnant women and low-income communities.

“While the Jones Road Wildfire is not included in our ‘State of the Air’ report, we are seeing particulate matter levels in the moderate range both locally and forecasted for much of the New York City Metro area and stretching into Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Washington D.C. and Virginia,” Seilback said Thursday.

Kevin Stewart, the director of environmental health advocacy and public policy for the American Lung Association spoke more on the latest analysis as part of the group’s 26th annual “State of the Air” study.

The report found at least 46% of New Jersey residents were living in areas that had unhealthy levels of air pollution.

That harmful air quality has derived from emission sources — like refineries, power plants and car traffic — and the latest analysis shows a real threat from wildfires.

It’s come as a result of blazes from afar, but closer to home too.

Factoring in human-caused global warming and how a lack of rainfall leads to droughts, Stewart said the ingredients are there for more of nature to burn.

He called wildfires in the Pine Barrens and elsewhere in New Jersey a potential “warning sign.”

The New Jersey Forest Fire Service has also in the past cited a longer wildfire season that starts earlier in the year. A lack of rainfall this month fueled the expansive fire.

“You cannot always depend on past weather patterns continuing into the future as long as there’s evidence that climate change is going to have higher impacts as time goes on,” Stewart said on the phone. “And so to the extent that we don’t adequately control carbon pollution and methane emissions and so on ... that will tend to increase the likelihood of the adverse conditions that lead to wildfires increasing.”

“And New Jersey’s not exempt from wildfires as we’ve seen.”

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Seeing through the smoke

The American Lung Association pointed to an important caveat when considering the analysis on the health of our air: monitors.

“It is critical to understand that this information is limited by where the monitors, which are few and far between, are located, so they are quite likely not to show where pollution levels have been highest," Seilback said Thursday of equipment set up in New Jersey.

The data we do have is concerning, experts said.

Due to factors like the Canadian wildfires — which turned the sky orange around the Garden State — worse air quality was reported throughout the state.

The association said 12 of 14 counties graded for ozone smog posted worse results than in last year’s report.

Here are findings in summary:

• 5 New Jersey counties earned “F” grades for ozone smog in this year’s report: Bergen, Gloucester, Mercer (worst in the state), Middlesex, and Ocean.
• Both Atlantic and Warren Counties retained their “A” grades, for zero days with high levels of ozone pollution, in this year’s report
• 11 counties that posted “D” grades for particle pollution: Atlantic, Camden, Cumberland, Bergen, Hudson, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex (tied with Mercer for worst in the state), Ocean, Union, and Warren
• The only counties with better grades this year were Gloucester (a “C”) and Morris (a “B,” best in the state)
• Only 2 counties, Camden (worst) and Union, failed for the year-round measure of particle pollution

Compared to other areas nationally:

• The 30-county “New York-Newark, NY-NJ-CT-PA metro area” — which includes 13 New Jersey counties — got worse for all three measures of pollution covered in the report (ozone, as well as short- and long-term particle pollution)
• The area also posted straight “F” grades, according to the area’s worst counties
• Although it worsened for ozone and ranked worst in the Mid-Atlantic/Northeast, this northern Jersey area did earn a better rank nationally (16th worst) than in last year’s report (13th worst)
• The 16-county “Philadelphia-Reading-Camden, PA-NJ-DE-MD metro area,” which covers 7 New Jersey counties, worsened for all three measures of pollution
• Philadelphia County earned straight “F” grades
• Despite worsening for ozone, the metro area’s rank improved to 43rd worst from 35th most polluted in the nation

The Lung Association reviews the unhealthy levels of ground-level ozone air pollution and year-round and short-term spikes in particle pollution over a three-year period.

The group describes “ozone” as an invisible gas, sometimes called smog, that forms on particularly hot days.

Experts likened the health impacts of smog to getting a sunburn on the tissue of one’s lungs — resulting in wheezing, or in worst-case scenarios asthma and heart attacks.

Particle pollution, also referred to as “soot,” derives from any sort of combustion, be it a diesel engine or wildfire. Heavy exposure to fine particulates can also mean devastating health effects like strokes and lung cancer.

Besides particulate matter, “wildfires also lead to formation of ozone because the particles are then cooked up in the atmosphere on hot, sunny days,” researchers with the American Lung Association said.

Because of time needed to review the data, the most recent big picture look at New Jersey’s air quality spans from 2021 to 2023.

The 2025 “State of the Air” report said the latest data shows 46% of Americans — more than 156 million people — live in places that get failing grades for unhealthy levels of ozone or particle pollution.

That’s nearly 25 million more people breathing unhealthy air compared to last year’s report and more than in any other ‘State of the Air’ report in the last ten years.

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Steven Rodas may be reached at srodas@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Bluesky at @stevenrodas.bsky.social.