Air Quality

Public Health Recommendations for Wildfire Smoke

Who is most likely to be affected?

• Groups most likely to be affected by smoke include young children (under 7), elderly persons, pregnant women, and individuals with pre-existing respiratory or circulatory conditions.
• Inhaling smoke is not good for anyone, even healthy people.

What are potential symptoms of exposure to wildfire smoke?

• Mild symptoms may include eye, nose and/or throat irritation, coughing, sore throat.
• More serious symptoms include trouble breathing or tightness of the chest, which may be signs of a health emergency.
• If symptoms persist or are severe, contact your primary health care provider. If you have been evacuated, medical assistance will be available at the designated shelters.

What to Do:

• If you smell smoke and/or are beginning to experience symptoms, close windows and doors and stay indoors. However, do not close up your home tightly if it makes it dangerously warm inside. If you have any HEPA room air filtration units, use them.
• Only if they are filtered, run the air conditioning, the fan feature on your home heating system (with the heat turned off) or your evaporative cooler. Keep the outdoor air intake closed and be sure the filter is clean. Filtered air typically has less smoke than the air outdoors. Running these appliances if they are not filtered can make indoor smoke worse.
• Consider temporarily locating to another area as long as it is safe for you to do so. Seek out locations where air is filtered.
• In smokey air reduce your physical activity level. Avoid exercise or other strenuous activities in heavy smoke.
• Give extra attention to the things that help keep a person healthy at any time. Make healthy eating choices, drink plenty of fluid, get ample sleep, and exercise in clean air. To the extent that you can, avoid or mitigate stress by keeping in touch with friends and family, exercising, and using other methods of taking a break from worries.
• Avoid smoking and secondhand smoke, vacuuming, candles and other sources of additional air pollution.
• Commercially available dust masks may seem like a good idea, but they do virtually nothing to filter out the particles and gasses in smoke.

At Night:

• At night smoke may move in different directions than smoke does in the day, and can be heavy--especially if the outdoor air is still. It tends to be worst near dawn.
• Close bedroom windows at night.
• To prepare for nighttime smoke, consider airing out your home during the early or middle of the afternoon when smoke tends to be more diluted. Use your best judgment. If smoke is thick during the day, follow the tips above.

If symptoms persist or become more severe, please contact your primary health care provider.

Air Quality Monitoring:

Residents and visitors in the Basalt area can find local real-time air quality readings by viewing the map at www.purpleair.com/map. This monitor is a snapshot of air quality at a fixed location. Please remember that air quality can change quickly depending on your location, winds, and fire activity. In addition, some people may be more sensitive to smoke in the air, even if the monitor indicates the air quality is good or moderate. These people include young children, older adults, pregnant women, and people with chronic health conditions such as asthma, other respiratory illnesses, and heart disease. Please use good judgement to determine if you should remain indoors.