Overview
Wildfire smoke forms when forests, grasslands, or other vegetation burn. It contains fine particles, carbon monoxide, and many other chemicals that can affect breathing and overall health. Even if you cannot see thick smoke, air quality may still be unhealthy.
Key Symptoms
Symptoms can include burning or watery eyes, runny nose, scratchy throat, coughing, wheezing, headache, and shortness of breath. Some people also feel tired or have chest discomfort. Smoke exposure can make asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), or heart symptoms worse.
Causes and Risk Factors
The main cause is breathing polluted air from nearby or distant wildfires. Risk can rise when smoke lasts for days, outdoor exercise increases breathing rate, or ventilation brings outdoor air indoors. Limited access to clean indoor air, masks, transportation, or medical care can also increase harm.
Who Is Affected
Anyone exposed to wildfire smoke can be affected. Higher-risk groups include infants and children, older adults, pregnant people, outdoor workers, and people with asthma, COPD, other lung disease, heart disease, or diabetes. People with disabilities or unstable housing may also have more difficulty reducing exposure.
Prevention
Follow local air quality reports and public health advice, and reduce outdoor time when air is smoky. Keep indoor air as clean as possible by closing windows and doors when appropriate, using air conditioning on recirculate if available, and using a properly maintained air cleaner or filter if you have one. If you must go outside in heavy smoke, a well-fitted respirator such as an N95 or similar particulate respirator may reduce inhaled particles, but it does not work for everyone and may be harder to use for some people.
Diagnosis and Tests
There is no single test for wildfire smoke exposure itself. A healthcare professional may review your symptoms, exposure history, oxygen level, breathing, and existing health conditions. If symptoms are significant, they may use lung function testing, imaging, or other tests to look for complications or worsening of another illness.
Treatment Categories
The main approach is reducing further smoke exposure and managing symptoms under the guidance of a healthcare professional. Treatment may involve monitoring breathing, treating irritation, and addressing flare-ups of conditions such as asthma, COPD, or heart disease. People who use prescribed inhalers, oxygen, or other regular treatments should follow their clinician's plan and seek advice if symptoms change.
Living With It
During wildfire season, make a plan for cleaner indoor air, transportation, medications, and ways to receive alerts. Try to limit strenuous activity when air quality is poor, and check on children, older adults, neighbors, and anyone with chronic illness. If smoke lasts a long time, local clean air shelters or community buildings may be helpful where available.
When to Seek Medical Care
Contact a healthcare professional if you have ongoing cough, wheezing, sore throat, worsening asthma or COPD symptoms, or trouble doing normal activities because of smoke. Seek care promptly if symptoms are new, are getting worse, or you have a heart or lung condition and feel less well than usual. Infants, pregnant people, and older adults may need earlier medical advice.
When It May Be an Emergency
Get emergency help right away for severe trouble breathing, blue or gray lips, chest pain, confusion, fainting, severe wheezing, or if someone is hard to wake up. Emergency care is also needed for signs of a severe asthma attack, very low oxygen if monitored, or rapidly worsening symptoms. Follow local emergency instructions if you are also at risk from the fire itself.