Danbury struggling with impact of smoke from Canada's wildfires

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Jessica and Noelle Ruotolo of Newtown wear masks as they go shopping in Danbury on Thursday morning.

A haze hangs over the Danbury Airport on Thursday morning, June 8, 2023, Danbury, Conn.

Rand Wheeler with Eversource and members of his crew at a work site in Danbury on Thursday.

A haze hangs over the Danbury Airport on Thursday morning, June 8, 2023, Danbury, Conn.

The Newtown Flagpole can be seen through the haze from Old Castle Drive on Wednesday morning. June 7, 2023, Newtown, Conn.

The Danbury Sports Dome takes on an eerie glow on Wednesday afternoon. June 7, 2023, Danbury, Conn.

A haze hangs over the Danbury Airport on Thursday morning, June 8, 2023, Danbury, Conn.

A haze hangs over the Danbury Airport on Thursday morning, June 8, 2023, Danbury, Conn.

DANBURY — Rand Wheeler, a supervisor with Eversource Energy who was working with a crew on Mill Plain Road on Thursday, said he had definitely noticed a difference in the air over the past few days.

"It smells like plastic. It's colder. There is no sun. It's foggy," said Wheeler, a Woodbury resident. He added that Wednesday was "really bad."

Wheeler said he had never smelled anything like it before.

"Not in my lifetime," he said at his work site in Danbury, where he was working outside all day Wednesday and expected to be there until the end of the day Thursday.

Jessica Ruotolo of Newtown and her 3-year-old daughter Noelle Ruotolo each wore an N95 mask while shopping in the plaza near Trader Joe's in Danbury.

"We used to live in Nevada so I’m not a stranger to wildfires, unfortunately," Ruotolo said. "It's wild. I just want to keep my kids safe. We love to be outside, but I have really bad allergies — five minutes in this I get a headache."

She said she is sensitive, and "even before the really bad days came, I could feel a scratchy throat and headache."

"In my car, I feel like it's still not great … so I personally wear my mask," Ruotolo said.

Her son goes to Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, she said, and he was kept indoors for recess.

Not everyone was bothered by the air quality. Woodbury resident Pete Carroll, who was on an excavation job along Kent Road in New Milford, said "I have no problem."

"I’m 73 and it's fine," he said.

In Washington, a group of juniors from Henry Abbott Technical High School in Danbury had been working on the plumbing for a house for Housatonic Habitat for Humanity before the air quality took a turn for the unhealthy.

"We were pretty much finished with the house two days ago," student Chris Martino said mid-Thursday morning. "We got lucky overall."

Redding had an AQI of 166 as of 11 a.m. Thursday, after reaching 302 on Wednesday.

West Redding had an AQI of 160 as of 11 a.m. Thursday, after reaching 267 on Wednesday.

Sherman had an AQI of 156 as of 11 a.m. Thursday, after reaching 189 on Wednesday.