Ash in California?

I was riding along the ocean in Northern California and noticed that the sun was setting "Blood Red". So I mentioned it to my wife today while we were having brunch in a restaurant. She said, "I wonder if it is the Ash? I can't think of any other reason right now for it to be a blood red sunset otherwise. I realized she was right because there is no smog, no fires right now in California. So the air should be perfectly clear unless it is coming across the ocean which here is basically over 5000 miles of ocean. For example I just Googled and it said the distance from California to Japan is 5,478 miles. So from where I live to Japan there is nothing but a few smaller islands here and there across the Pacific.