Fires burning in the West have sparked an An Air Quality Alert for residents and businesses that have employees working outside throughout the Greater Fayetteville area.

Local National Weather Service officials issued the alert for Cumberland, Hoke, Sampson and Scotland counties, including the cities of Fayetteville, Spring Lake, Hope Mills, Clinton, Camp Mackall, Laurinburg, Raeford, Wagram and Roseboro.

The alert will remain in effect until midnight Thursday, according to NWS information released Thursday.

According to weather officials, the North Carolina Department of Environmental and Natural Resources in Raleigh has issued a Code Orange Air Quality Action Day for fine particulates. The Code Orange alert means concentrations within the region may approach or exceed unhealthy standards.

Workers and residents who are sensitive to poor air quality — especially those with heart or lung disease, such as asthma — are encouraged to limit prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors. In a statement released to local media on Thursday, Environmental Resources officials said children, active people and older adults should also limit time spent outdoors.

“Wildfires continue to burn actively across 13 states where 78 large fires and complexes have burned 1,346,736 acres,” according to a statement released Wednesday by the National Interagency Fire Center. “More than 20,700 wildland firefighters and support personnel are assigned to incidents. New large fires [on Wednesday] were reported in California, Montana and Wyoming.”