Western U.S. wildfires cause striking East Tennessee sunset

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - Smoke from wildfires in the Western United States is having an effect on East Tennessee sunsets.

You may have noticed an angry-looking red sunset Tuesday evening. Much of that can be attributed to wildfire smoke from the West Coast, but the smoke is high enough not to impact Tennessee’s local air quality. It is not the air you’re breathing in.

Much of the West Coastland is composed of very dry forest and much of it is on fire earlier than normal. More than 2000 firefighters are battling the largest of them - Oregon’s Bootleg Fire. That blaze alone has charred nearly 365,000 acres of land.

That gigantic wildfire is far from the only one and it’s having an impact in our own backyard. Wildfire smoke from Oregon, Idaho, and Nevada is climbing several miles high. Turns out, it’s reaching us thousands of miles away.