The heatwave has calmed down, but the air quality in Sunnyvale, and throughout the Bay Area, continues to be impacted as a result of the fires burning throughout California.
When the air quality is poor, it’s important to limit exposure. Smoke can hurt your eyes, irritate your respiratory system, and worsen chronic heart and lung diseases.
Who is at greatest risk from wildfire smoke?
- People who have heart or lung diseases, like heart disease, lung disease, or asthma, are at higher risk from wildfire smoke.
- Older adults are more likely to be affected by smoke. This may be due to their increased risk of heart and lung diseases.
- Children are more likely to be affected by health threats from smoke. Children’s airways are still developing and they breathe more air per pound of body weight than adults. Also, children often spend more time outdoors engaged in activity and play.
It's important to take steps to decrease your risk from wildfire smoke. Here’s how:
- Limit outdoor activities, stay inside as much as possible. If you have pets, be mindful that if the smoke irritates you, it irritates your pets too, make sure to limit their outdoor time as well.
- Keep indoor air as clean as possible by keeping your windows and doors closed. If you have an air conditioner running, keep the fresh-air intake closed and the filter clean to prevent outdoor smoke from getting inside.
- Avoid activities that increase indoor pollution. Burning candles, fireplaces, or gas stoves can increase indoor pollution. Vacuuming stirs up particles already inside your home, contributing to indoor pollution. Smoking also puts even more pollution into the air.
- Follow the advice of your doctor or other healthcare provider about medicines and about your respiratory management plan if you have asthma or another lung disease.
- Do not rely on dust masks for protection. Paper “comfort” or “dust” masks commonly found at hardware stores are designed to trap large particles, such as sawdust. These masks will not protect your lungs from the small particles found in wildfire smoke.
For more safety tips on how to stay safe and healthy from wildfire smoke visit Centers for Disease Control at
https://www.cdc.gov/air/wildfire-smoke/default.htm.
For fire updates visit CAL FIRE at
www.fire.ca.gov.
To check air quality visit
https://www.baaqmd.gov/about-air-quality/current-air-quality/air-monitoring-data/#/air-quality-home.
Our thoughts continue to be with everyone impacted by the fires, the firefighters battling them, and everyone working behind the scenes to help save lives and property.
