(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Advice For Living With Wildfire Smoke [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-06-09 Recently, heavy smoke has moved into the eastern US from the fires in Canada. How do you live with the stuff? In Colorado, we deal with smoke every wildfire season. For folks who haven’t experienced it before, here are a few ideas to make life easier until the jet stream clears it out. Drive with your headlights on. Even if it is daytime, smoke is a lot like driving in fog or rain or blowing dust. You might be able to see, but other people might not see you. Don’t forget to turn them off when you get to your destination. Put a bright-colored sticky on your dash when you turn on daytime headlights to remind you shut them off again. No one wants a dead battery. Drive with car windows shut and run the AC or the recirculation option. If you’re running vent with the windows shut, it’s still coming in. Park your car inside a garage or under cover if you can. Soot and particulates will settle into the vent openings and don’t do the finish any good either. Close all the windows and doors in your house and keep them shut. Run the house AC or ventilation system on fan-only to push the air through the system filter. Change the filter twice a year, spring and fall. Check it regularly and change it after any heavy smoke event that fills it with visible residue. Stay indoors when the air is bad. If you have to go out, wear a mask. Masks don’t stop the chemicals, but they can cut down the particulates. If you have work or spend time outside, choose one of the heavy-duty masks, like an N-95. Wear long sleeves and pants to keep the stuff off your skin. Shower when you come back inside. Keep the ashfall swept off your sidewalk, patio and driveway. It will track in the house on people’s shoes and then it’s a lot harder to get rid of. Shampooing carpets after a significant wildfire event will create copious amounts of black liquid residue from the shampoo machine. (Don’t ask me how I know this.) Change the shampoo liquid frequently, so you’re not churning the gunk back into the carpet. Avoid high exertion activities outdoors when air quality is bad. Skip the jogging and gardening and do some indoor exercise instead. Likewise, keep animals indoors if you can. You don’t want pets running around getting the soot in their fur and tracking it into the house and onto furniture and beds. If you have horses, you don’t want a workout to force it into their —or your— lungs. If you sometimes need breathing medication or an asthma inhaler, CARRY IT WITH YOU. Everywhere, all the time. You never know when trouble might start, and it can’t do you any good if it’s at home and you are not. If you have breathing issues triggered by smoke, get medical care ASAP. People die from this; it’s no joke. In the meantime, it’s easier to breathe sitting up than it is lying flat. A hot beverage can be helpful to relax airways, and caffeine helps as well. Paramedics once fed me strong hot coffee along with supplemental oxygen to get past an asthma episode. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/6/9/2174306/-Advice-For-Living-With-Wildfire-Smoke-In-The-Air Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/