The Press-Telegram‘s John Canalis writes in a blog today that it may be better to stay indoors if you’re on the Westside of Long Beach today, after a plant fire in Wilmington spewed smoke into the air this morning. No one is yet sure what sorts of chemicals or pollutants may be spreading through the air, so if you’re within a one mile radius of the Tesoro plant on 2010 E. Pacific Coat Highway, it would be best to stay indoors and avoid breathing too much of the air.

Of course, it’s generally not a great idea to breathe a whole lot of that air, anyway, seeing as how the Westside has suffered from horrible air quality for decades and is near more than a dozen plants or refineries like the Tesoro one that caught fire today. Lest we forget, USA Today ranked six of Long Beach’s public schools among the top ten worst in the nation when it comes to air quality.

We’ll let you know when more information becomes available, but with this being a furlough day, it’s not easy to reach anyone at City Hall or the Health & Human Services Department. If you have any information, please let us know by email or commenting below.