The Camp Fire Effect (Volume 2): Oakland Makes History *Cough Cough*

Our photos from the #Oakland/#SanFrancisco Bay dealing with the smoke from the deadly #CampFire burning about 200 miles north of the Bay Area.

Although there were hopes that the smoke would start to dissipate this week, that was not the case when an evil high pressure system over the Bay Area cause more smoke to enter the region creating some the worst air quality ratings in Bay Area history. Oakland reached an amazing PM2.5 rating of 255 Wednesday afternoon, smashing the old record of 188 from last year's Napa County fire.

With the media sending out various warnings to the public (some wrong) about the deadly effects of the wildfire smoke, hysteria gripped the region with almost every hardware store selling out of surgical masks that were quickly brought up by Bay Area citizens.

Despite their best efforts, Camp Fire smoke seemed to be everywhere, including in underground #BART stations where trains running in the system pushed outside smoke into the subways.

Hysteria also gripped the region with San Francisco declaring Friday, October 16 FREE MUNI DAY with all Muni rides free for the public.

However, this once in a lifetime offer did not extend to the world famous San Francisco Cable Cars that were shutdown to "protect the health of workers." Also, in downtown Oakland, construction crews were sent home early because of the bad air quality.

The local hysteria reached unheard levels when almost every school district cancelling classes and with local ice rinks at the Embarcadero Center and Union Square in San Francisco shutting down.

However, never forgetting to make any historical event about themselves, numerous young people quickly filled up social media with selfie pictures of themselves with their masks on.

Credit: Oakland Photo Vault 2018