Smoke blankets Utah skies as California, Nevada wildfires rage on

Smoke from three major wildfires in Southern California blew into Utah Wednesday, causing air quality to plummet as the sky filled with haze.

The Bridge, Line and Airport fires in California, meanwhile, have collectively burned over 100,000 acres as of Wednesday, with containment still out of sight, NBC Los Angeles reported.

Smoke and cold front push into Utah

The wildfire smoke sweeping into Utah Wednesday will be joined by a cold front that is expected to push into the state Thursday morning.

As winds from the southwest bring smoke, the cold front from the Pacific Northwest will likely clear out some of that smoke, KSL meteorologist Matt Johnson said.

However, Johnson warned, the cold front “will likely bring in smoke from the northwest again — varying in thickness at times,” KSL reported.

Utah experienced similarly smoky conditions last week as a dry cold front pulled wildfire smoke from the northwest, settling in Utah and southwest Wyoming, as the Deseret News previously reported.

The National Weather Service predicted that though the smoke will likely decrease for many places, Utahns should still except smoky conditions through Thursday.

Utahns can also expect a sharp temperature drop — 20 degrees for northern Utah and 10 degrees for southern Utah — starting Thursday, according to NWS Salt Lake City.

Southern California wildfires rage on

Three major wildfires are currently scorching Southern California as gusty winds push smoke eastward.

• The Bridge fire started Sunday in Angeles National Forest and has quickly became the largest current wildfire in California, at 48,000 acres, spanning into San Bernardino County. As of Wednesday afternoon, the fire was at 0% containment and had destroyed 33 homes, according to CBS News .
• The Line Fire started last Thursday, Sept. 5, and has burned through 35,000 acres in San Bernardino County since then. As of Wednesday afternoon, the fire was at 14% containment. The San Bernardino County Sheriff announced Wednesday that they had arrested a suspect for allegedly starting the fire.
• The Airport Fire in Orange and Riverside Counties spanned 22,000 acres and was at 0% containment as of Wednesday afternoon. Eight firefighters have been injured in the fire that was sparked Monday by heavy equipment operating in the area, Orange County Fire Capt. Steve Concialdi stated, per The Associated Press .

And in Nevada, fires in north continue to grow in size

Per CNN , A fire south of Reno has consumed nearly 5,600 acres and is 0% contained as of Tuesday, according to the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest. The size of the Davis fire was downgraded from an earlier 6,500 acres. At least 14 structures have been destroyed.

Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek and California Gov. Gavin Newsom have all declared a state of emergency in their respective states.