DC experiences ‘Code Red’ air quality after massive fireworks display
Residents of Washington D.C. briefly experienced the worst air quality of any major city in the world on Sunday, according to a company that ranks pollution globally; the capital reckoned with the aftermath of a massive 40-minute Fourth of July fireworks display.
Municipal officials released a statement Code Red Air Quality AlertResidents were asked to limit the time they spend outdoors, warning that the air was “unhealthy for the elderly, children and people with medical conditions” and that the general public could experience health problems.
DC dropped to 26th place on air quality monitoring platform IQAir as of 5:30pm on Sunday.
Fireworks display organized by Trump-backed nonprofit organization Freedom 250 officer The half-century-old series of events comes as D.C. and the broader Northeast suffer an extreme heat wave. The region experienced triple-digit high temperatures on Saturday, setting the stage for the storm that forced the evacuation of the National Mall ahead of the fireworks display.
Dr. D., chief medical officer of nearby Montgomery County, Maryland. “The air quality today is like running a marathon while smoking a cigarette,” Kisha Davis told CNN ahead of Saturday’s fireworks display. He added that 850,000 fireworks around the National Mall would make the situation worse.
But as a guess showed Saying that there is a possibility of thunderstorms on Sunday evening, Davis said that the rain could help clear the air. “It’s pushing all these chemicals and pollutants into the water system, but at least they’re not out of the air,” Davis told CNN on Sunday.
Visitors arrive at the Great American State Fair on the National Mall during America’s 250th Independence Day celebrations on July 4 in Washington, DC. -Anna Rose Layden/Getty Images
Fireworks light up the sky in Washington, DC, just after midnight on July 5, 2026. -Rebecca Wright/CNN
The show was expected to break a Guinness World Record as hundreds of thousands of fireworks projectiles were launched from 10 locations spread across the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, Potomac River barges and West Potomac Park. quality test 810,904 fireworks were fired during the 2016 New Year’s Eve countdown celebration in the Philippines. The capital’s spectacle was nearly 10 times larger than the Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks Extravaganza in New York, which is usually the nation’s largest Independence Day party.
As of Sunday, there was no public confirmation that the exhibit had been certified as a new world record. CNN reached Guinness World Records.
Internal National Park Service Documents obtained by the Washington Post showed that the fireworks display was expected to cause “very unhealthy” conditions in central D.C. The documents suggested that people should limit exposure to pollution and recommended that those watching fireworks outdoors wear N95 masks.
The park service had no comment on internal documents obtained by CNN.
The D.C. Fire and Emergency Services Department reported 96 patient contacts and 40 patient transports from the National Mall between midnight Friday and 9 a.m. Sunday, according to the National Special Security Event Joint Information Center, a multi-agency center in Washington D.C. that oversees security for events celebrating the nation’s 250th anniversary. It’s unclear how many of these incidents were related to heat or air quality.
Police sirens and ambulances approach George Washington University Hospital at the end of the fireworks display in Washington, D.C., on the morning of July 5, 2026. -Maansi Srivastava/CNN
George Washington University also reported 289 patient contacts from the National Mall as of 10 p.m. Saturday. The center also reported that the Department of Health and Human Services reported 314 patient contacts.
President Donald Trump, who gave a 40-minute speech before the fireworks show, said on social media that the show was “the most spectacular fireworks display I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen them all. Congratulations on a job well done!”
CNN’s Kaanita Iyer and Aleena Fayaz contributed to this report.
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