5 Safety Tips to Protect Yourself from Wildfire Smoke

The wildfires in California devastated whole communities and leveled large swathes of the cities. However, during a disaster like that, the immediate fire isn’t the only thing people need to be concerned about. Wildfire smoke is incredibly dangerous to inhale, and even if the air looks clear, the air quality can still be bad.

We spoke to Amy Masi, a public affairs officer for both the U.S. Forest Service and the Kern River Ranger District, to discuss some things you can do to practice wildfire smoke safety.

Prepare Ahead of Time If Possible

Masi’s first piece of advice begins before a fire starts: plan ahead. Have your emergency kit prepared and somewhere easy to grab in case you need to evacuate. At the bare minimum, your kit should contain any prescription medications you need, important documents, your go-bag, phone chargers, copies of your prescription information and your doctor’s contact details.

If you have space left over in your kit, you can add sentimental items like photo albums. Masi says she’s heard of people either photographing their albums with their phones or downloading all of their photos to a designated USB drive that easily slips into a pocket.

Once your bag is prepped, tune in to update channels. Masi cautions that official sources are always the best as they have the most up-to-date and accurate information. Options like airnow.gov and Genasys Protect provide official agency information right to your phone so that you don’t miss a single update. You can also sign up for your area’s reverse 911 notifications to ensure that you’re as informed as possible. Always follow official instructions; if you’re told to evacuate, you need to leave immediately.

Monitor Air Quality

In addition to keeping up to date with warnings and evacuation orders, you need to keep up to date with air quality reports. These will tell you how many layers of precautions you need to take to protect yourself from smoke.

Make it a habit to check these regularly. Wildfires may be unpredictable, but prescribed burns are often planned and announced ahead of time. Masi recommends looking to your local health department for these updates. You can also check the National Weather Service and familiarize yourself with the air quality index.

Stay Inside

If the air quality is bad or if there’s a lot of smoke in the air, Masi warns to stay inside as much as possible. This is true of everyone, but especially of children, people with compromised lungs and hearts, and anyone who has breathing issues. Even if it seems like the wind is clearing the smoke, you need to exercise caution; it can change at any moment.

It’s not just people who need to stay inside; part of practicing wildfire smoke safety is ensuring that your animals are safe, too. Pets need to stay inside, too, and you should change their water at least once a day. If you’ve got livestock, look for animal evacuation centers outside of the areas impacted by the smoke.

Masi explains that in addition to staying inside, you need to keep your doors and windows closed and close any exterior vents. If it’s a warm day, use your air conditioning unit rather than evaporative coolers, which pull air in from outside. Make sure you’ve set your air conditioner to recirculate the air and that your filters are in top shape.

Air Purifiers

Air purifiers are another important part of your wildfire smoke safety kit. Buy them, use them regularly, and keep up with cleaning and maintenance. Masi says they’re an excellent way to clean the air further and protect your lungs. She also says that you need to do what you can to make the load easier on the purifier; don’t light your fireplace or candles or smoke inside while they’re running.

Masks

Masi’s final piece of advice is to utilize masks. You need to stay inside as much as possible, but if you have to leave your home, do so while wearing an N95 or P100 respirator. These will filter out the dangerous particulates. However, don’t use them as an excuse to go outside for non-necessities. Do not exercise outside or do yard work. If you don’t have masks on hand, look for local mask blocs in your area; they often supply free masks to the local communities.

About the Expert

Amy Masi is the Acting Public Affairs Officer and Partnership Coordinator for Kern River Ranger District as well as a Public Affairs Officer for the U.S. Forest Service.

The post 5 Safety Tips to Protect Yourself from Wildfire Smoke appeared first on Family Handyman.

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