That irritating smoke that everybody in Tampa Bay is experiencing Thursday morning is coming from a 30,000-acre fire burning near the Osceola National Forest the past four days, according to a spokesman for the Florida Forest Service.
The Pinellas County Division of Air Quality has issued an Air Pollution advisory due to elevated levels of the pollutant particulate matter and dense smoke.
The Hillsborough County Health Department is also springing into action, warning local citizens that wildfire smoke is a respiratory irritant that can cause scratchy throat or irritated eyes and nose. It can also aggravate those with asthma or other chronic respiratory or lung conditions.
The agency has just issued out a release on what people should do under these circumstances:
