Wildfire Smoke Invades People’s Houses

It is generally believed that the best place to wait out a wildfire is indoors unless the place is at risk of burning. Closed windows and doors keep out smoke. However, this is not the case. Wildfires can spread dangerous smoke into homes.

According to The Washington Post, the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health.has issued research that says the problem is most acute in poor nations. But, the U.S. has not been spared. “Smoke contains fine particles, referred to as PM2.5, that are about a 30th the width of a human hair and can travel into our hearts and lungs — as well as creeping through the minuscule cracks in our windows and doors. Exposure to these particles has been linked to respiratory illnesses, dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, and increased overall mortality.” Solutions that include air purifiers can be expensive. 

Drought Areas Grow

The presence of wildfires in the US is growing. Most often, these occur in Western states. Recently, there have been large fires in Minnesota and New Jersey. Last year, fires moved close to NYC.

Two years ago, smoke from fires in northern Canada reached as far south as Washington and west as Minneapolis. In June 2023, when this smoke was thickest, the air quality index in NYC reached over 350, leading to a health advisory being issued for all five boroughs. People wore facemasks left over from the COVID-19 pandemic. People with preexisting conditions like asthma were particularly affected.

As drought occasionally becomes more widespread, this problem will worsen. According to the Drought Monitor, there are drought conditions from Seattle to north of Detroit. Areas around western Texas, which often have drought conditions, usually suffer from dry periods. There are also drought conditions from Massachusetts to Miami. 

If homes are unsafe places to avoid smoke, much of the country could be affected.

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