NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A marsh fire near Lake Pontchartrain is fouling the air of the New Orleans metropolitan area, reported The Associated Press on Monday.
The National Weather Service issued air quality alerts Sunday and Monday as smoke spread into several nearby parishes. It advised the elderly, people with respiratory diseases, children and pregnant women to stay indoors.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the smoke may cause residents of the affected parishes to cough. It may also cause shortness of breath, tightness in the chest and stinging in the eyes, nose or throat.
The CDC stated the problems can begin shortly after smoke is inhaled and may occur with little warning, especially for those with lung or heart disease.
A Tulane Medical Center spokeswoman says 11 people went to the downtown emergency room for problems resulting from breathing the smoke. A spokesman for University Medical Center says it did not see any increase in patients.
“The National Weather Service predicts conditions for smoke to settle near the surface overnight, which could reduce visibility in impacted areas,” said a news release from The New Orleans Agenda.
New Orleans Fire Department spokesman Jonathan Pajeaud says lightning likely started the fire Thursday. He says one square mile — contained by canals — was burning intensely near Irish Bayou in eastern New Orleans.
The fire was not expected to spread but has burned roughly 1,300 acres. There are 1,000 acres remaining in the water-locked area, the release stated.
“The fire is feeding off of brush, including chinaberry and willow trees, along with compacted layers of peat moss nude the marsh brush,” the release said.
The Department of Agriculture and Forestry and the city’s Mosquito and Termite Control Board pilots have conducted aerial scans of the area since the blaze started. The pilots will perform a more detailed survey of the area on Tuesday to determine the exact area impacted and when the fire will cease.
Pajeaud says rain forecasted this week might extinguish the blaze.
 
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