Update: Officials Ask Austin Residents to Limit Outdoor Activities as Wildfire Smoke Persists

The Austin Fire Department and Austin/Travis County Health and Human Services have asked residents to limit outdoor activities as they continue to contain the Bastrop wildfires.

According to the AFD Facebook page, emergency workers are asking the public to adhere to the following suggestions:

• Limit outdoor activities as much as possible. When you must go outside, wear a protective mask with an N-95 rating and avoid physical exertion.
• Keep the windows and doors of your home shut.
• Run the air conditioner with the fresh-air intake closed and use high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters.
• Avoid outdoor cooking as much as possible.
• Do not burn candles.
• Do not use vacuum cleaners, which can stir up dust already inside your home.
• Drink plenty of water. To help relieve dryness in your airway, breathe through a warm, wet cloth. 

Emergency workers received multiple calls on Wednesday morning about smoke in the Austin air. According to Austin police, the smoke is coming from wildfires in Bastrop, and should not worry Austin residents.

• Want more Downtown Austin news? Click here for our daily newsletter.

“We’ve alerted callers that the smoke is due to the Bastrop wildfires,” Senior Police Officer Veneza Bremner told Patch. “We’ve received several calls already, and we want residents to know that we already know what’s going on.”

To keep phone lines open for other emergency calls, police are asking the community to refrain from calling 911 unless there is smoke inside of a building or an active fire.

We will continue updating this story as we receive more information.