The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality has declared a Code Orange air quality day for the Roanoke region.

A Code Orange means that the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups. The DEQ recommends that everyone, especially people with respiratory diseases such as asthma, limit strenuous outdoor activity during a Code Orange alert. The agency cites particle pollution as the cause for the alert.

The DEQ's air quality index is at www.deq.virginia.gov/airquality.