On July 26, 1943, Los Angeles was hit by a cloud so thick and irritating that residents feared the city was under a chemical attack. Visibility fell to about three blocks, while people complained of burning eyes, irritated throats and a sharp smell that was compared with bleach. It was the middle of World War II, and the possibility of an enemy gas attack did not seem far-fetched. But there was no foreign weapon in the air. It occurred during a heat wave, when weather conditions helped keep polluted air close to the ground. The episode was an early warning that the city's growing industrial and automobile emissions could interact with its geography and weather.
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