Weekend Air Quality Alert

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) The level of ozone in Fort Wayne/Allen County and Huntington County is expected to be at an unhealthy level for people in sensitive groups this weekend.

The elderly, people with heart or lung disease, and active adults and children should limit or avoid activity outside on Saturday and Sunday. If it becomes difficult to breath, go inside and call your healthcare provider.

Fire risk in dry conditions

To reduce ozone levels people can walk, bike, carpool, use public transportation, turn off the car engine when idling for more than 10 seconds, maintain proper air pressure in tires, delay refueling until after 7 p.m., and conserve electricity by turning off lights and electronic devices not in use.

Ground level ozone is formed when a mixture of air pollutants are cooked in the sunlight. Weather conditions used in forecasting levels of ground-level ozone include amount of sunshine, temperature, wind direction and humidity. Even at low levels, breathing ground-level ozone can trigger a variety of health problems for people with asthma and other respiratory illnesses.

For more information check out the IDEM Smog Watch or the Clean Air Force .