Wildfire smoke forces college class cancelations

Classes have been canceled for tens of thousands Northern California university students as smoke from a deadly wildfire continues to drift south, choking the air in Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Air quality officials said Thursday the region will experience some of the worst air quality in the eight days since the fire about 90 miles (130 kilometers) north of Sacramento started last week, destroying the town of Paradise.

The wildfire has charred nearly 220-square-mile (570-square-kilometer) since Nov. 8 and is 40 percent contained.

Officials from six Northern California universities say classes are canceled Thursday. Some of the colleges are closing all of their buildings. Cal Estate East Bay says its libraries, health centers and dining halls will remain open.

Bay Area Air District executive officer Jack Broadbent says in a statement that smoke from the fire continues to blanket all nine counties in the San Francisco Bay Area.