A VicEmergency air quality advice issued by the Environmental Protection Authority on Monday, January 12, warned that air quality in the Northern Country district, which includes Shepparton, was “very poor”.
The North East district was experiencing “extremely poor” air quality.
An EPA air check on Tuesday, January 13, showed that the air quality in Shepparton was “fair” between 8am and 9am, but the region’s forecast was “fair” to “poor”, as there may be some periods where smoke was visible from major bushfires.
There was smoke in the centre and southern end of Shepparton early Tuesday morning.
Yarrawonga’s air quality between 8am and 9am Tuesday was listed as “very poor”, while Benalla’s was “poor”.
The VicEmergency alert warned that smoke could affect people’s health, and people should minimise the time spent in smoky conditions whenever practical to do so.
It also warned people to close windows and doors to keep the smoke out of their house.
If it is smoky outside, residents were advised to use their split system air conditioner and switch it to ‘recirculate’ if they had this function.
The advice also said to consider not using evaporative coolers because they brought outdoor air inside.
You can check the air quality in your area online at epa.vic.gov.au/check-air-and-water-quality
23°C