A dance to defeat the Rough Fire's ash?

Saturday, September 12, 2015

The Rough Fire's ash is spreading all across the Central Valley and impacting people both young and old, but some folks have found ways to adapt.

FRESNO, Calif (KFSN) -- The Rough Fire's ash is spreading all across the Central Valley and impacting people both young and old, but some folks have found ways to adapt.

The Buchanan High School tennis courts saw zeroes Friday despite a big tournament. Air quality concerns put it on hold for hours, but the girls from Turlock found a different way to use the courts. Their Nae Nae dance is new school, but it's their old school use of bandana masks that's helping them win at least one match: against the Rough Fire. It's now casting a growing shadow and not just on the tennis court dance floor.

At the ABC30 studios in Downtown Fresno we're about 45 miles away from the edges of the Rough Fire and yet, on Friday morning here we can smell a little bit of smoke and our news vehicles are just coated in ash.

"It feels like it's winter with this darkness but it's the middle of the day and we don't have a sun," said Caroline Rodriguez of Sanger.

On social media, #abc30insiders like Richard Holguin shared photos of ash in Selma, in northwest Fresno, even in Hanford and Caruthers.

Kaiser Permanente doctor Linda Pauls says it's a symptom of the unhealthy air delivered from the Rough Fire and it's keeping her busy.

"Sinus congestion, sinus infections, bronchitis and certainly asthma and emphysema exacerbations have been a lot worse lately," Dr. Pauls said. "We've been seeing a lot of patients in clinic."

Children and senior citizens are usually the most vulnerable to respiratory trouble and Dr. Pauls said long exposure can lead to chronic problems and even infections like pneumonia. Some folks are adjusting schedules to survive.

"We try to do as much as we can in the morning because we know during the day it gets worse," Rodriguez said. "And we figure in the morning it's not as thick because it's cooler."

But even a cool dance couldn't save the tennis tournament. The Turlock girls, the Lodi team, and everyone else will have to sit and wait to play another day, when the Rough Fire's reach isn't quite so long.