FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) – With wildfires in Canada, this has caused the United States to experience a dense haze in the air. Some states are worse than others but here in northeast Indiana, the community is going about their days as normal. On Thursday, people at Freimann Square weren’t even aware of the air quality action day.

“It’s a beautiful day here, if there is an air quality alert I would not have guessed that,” said Nate Williams, enjoying the day.

“It’s been beautiful, cool, and breezy and the alert has not been on my mind whatsoever,” Grant Irmiter, who was also at Freimann Square Thursday afternoon.

The Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) has issued Air Quality Action Days (AQAD) for Friday, June 9, 2023 for all Indiana counties. Some people in downtown Fort Wayne said if the air quality does continue to get worse, they will use precaution.

“If it was a health hazard I would make some precautions, but it would have to be very serious,” said Irmiter.

“I would probably put on a mask before I would stay inside, I like to get outside a lot, it would have to be really bad for me not to go outside,” said Williams. “I would consider wearing a mask if I had to.”

WANE 15 did receive a complaint regrading city workers not having a policy in place to protect them when the air quality is poor. WANE 15 reached out to the City of Fort Wayne and received this response.

Employee safety is a top priority. Two of our major divisions that conduct a lot of work outdoors, Public Works and City Utilities, have not had problems or concerns raised over the past few days. We continue to monitor conditions and will respond accordingly, if necessary. We also rely on experts at IDEM and the Allen County Department of Health for guidance on whether work should be stopped at outdoor work locations.

John Perlich, City of Fort Wayne PIO