Several Mariposa County offices either shutdown or had reduce services because of poor air quality on Monday.
Dallin Kimble, who is the county administrative officer, explained air quality is bad because of fires from around the state.
On Monday, he made the tough call to close county doors.
"It makes it unfamiliar territory when you are making that call. There is a part of you saying, 'really we are going to close for air?' But the bottom line is employees need to be safe," he said.
Kimble mentioned inside their building they have sensors that alerted them of the poor air inside.
"When we saw that we requested that all our employees go home so that they would be safe while we brought in air scrubbing equipment," Kimble explained.
He added this is the first time, to his knowledge, county offices sent employee homes because of bad air.
Tuesday morning several offices, including the library remained closed.
Valerie Teixeira, who lives in the area, stopped by to drop off a book but was met with locked doors.
She was not upset, saying it was a good call to close.
Teixeira, like many, is fed up with the bad air.
"Yesterday I stayed in the house. I really did. I had a hard time breathing yesterday and I had to take medication for it," she said.
By Tuesday afternoon the county offices opened back up, but they are keeping a close eye on the air quality.
"We are going to continue to monitor the air quality. We are getting smoke not just from our fire but other fires around the state," Kimble said.
Although many offices were close a few offices, including the sheriff's office, remained open.