Residents of San Francisco and the surrounding Bay Area have woken up to hazy skies and the smell of burning wood for the past few days as wildfires spread through arid regions northeast of the city. The fires, which now span more than 100,000 acres, are creating a smoke screen that is blanketing the Bay Area and disrupting operations at San Francisco International Airport, a major hub for United Airlines and an important connection point for over a dozen international air carriers.
On Friday morning, SFO's Twitter feed confirmed the delays, saying "Butte County wildfires are impacting some flights at SFO. The devastating wildfires are causing unhealthy air quality conditions, reduced visibility, and widespread smoke and haze. SFO is experiencing some delays and cancellations. Please check with your airline for flight details."
NASA's Earth Twitter feed followed the news with satellite imagery showing nearby fires sweeping smoke over the region.
Multiple fast-moving blazes are producing huge plumes of smoke and threatening several communities in #California. https://t.co/ttdSXn2Alk #CampFire #HillFire #WoolseyFire #Landsat #MODIS #NASA pic.twitter.com/8WmdfyEeY3
— NASA Earth (@NASAEarth) November 9, 2018
As of Saturday morning, San Francisco airport was experiencing average inbound flight delays of 48 minutes due to low visibility, according to FlightAware, a live online tracking tool.
Smoke from nearby regional fires has also affected Los Angles and the surrounding area, though no delays have so far been noted at Los Angles International. Numerous travelers, however, have observed the smoke slowly creeping its way towards the airport.
Damn the smoke from the fire is gnarly from LAX. pic.twitter.com/gxL7VGOe6M
— recycler of the final hurrah (@brandonwenerd) November 9, 2018
Airlines, meanwhile, have started to put waivers in place in order to accommodate passengers affected by the delays. For travel between November 9th and 11th, United Airlines, the biggest air carrier operating out of San Francisco, is offering to reaccommodate passengers traveling out of Burbank, Los Angeles or San Francisco for free. Neither Delta Air Lines nor American has put a similar waiver in place, however both carriers don't have large presences at SFO.
As the fires continue to develop and expand it's likely that air travel disruptions will continue throughout the early week in California. According to the San Jose Mercury news a lack of wind in the San Francisco Bay means that the smoke is forecasted to stick around at least through the weekend.
