Several wildfires are burning across the Pacific Northwest but the local air quality has been fairly good so far this season in the Puget Sound region. That’s partly because of favorable wind currents blowing the smoke out east.
“But as we start approaching the fall, our wind patterns typically shift,” said Addison Houston, a climate adaptation strategist with Public Health – Seattle & King County’s Climate & Health Equity Initiative. “So, as soon as that shifts, and if those fires are still active, that will likely start bringing smoke into our region.”
Wildfire season tends to put a spotlight on outdoor air quality because of wildfire smoke, but it can impact indoor air quality, too. While there are several resources available for tracking outdoor air quality, Houston said there hasn’t been as much attention paid to what’s happening indoors.
“Wildfire is quickly creating more air pollution than a lot of the traditional sources that our air quality regulations are based around,” Houston said. “Now, we’re dealing with this emerging risk of more frequent wildfires producing high quantities of wildfire smoke, that is really requiring us to rethink our approach to indoor air quality.”
Tips to protect yourself from wildfire smoke
- Know where to get information about the air quality near you. AirNow.gov and the Washington Smoke Blog are useful sites.
- Create a DIY indoor air filter by attaching a MERV 13 furnace filter to a box fan
- Avoid burning candles or incense and intense high-heat cooking indoors to not generate additional gasses.
- Avoid sweeping heavily to prevent kicking up a lot of dust into the air
- If you can afford it, invest in a portable air filtration system
Most people can tell when the air is smoky visually, when the sky looks hazy or has an orange glow, or they might smell it. Other indications of pollution in the air are physical, like eye, throat, or nose irritation. Any of these instances would be a good reminder to check those air quality reports.
Keeping your windows closed can be tricky as Washington summers are hotter and last longer, especially in a region where air conditioning isn’t as prevalent.
53% of homes in King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties have air conditioning, according to census data. But only 45% of low-income homes in the area do.
The deadly 2021 heat dome highlighted how a lack of air conditioning could become a public health issue.
“People's lives were lost. That's something that doesn't have to happen,” said Tremayne Edwards, director of operations at Byrd Barr Place, an essential services provider in Seattle’s Central District. “This is something that can be preventable, and so our job is every day to make sure that we're preventing folks from being in harm's way when they don't have to be.”
This summer, Byrd Barr Place was one of several organizations trying to help people get access to air conditioning units through the state’s energy assistance program. In July, Edwards estimated more than 2,000 people had requested help from Byrd Barr Place to get air conditioning.
“That number is big. But, that's a number that we think should still grow and can continue to grow because we have this program that is funded to do just that,” Edwards said.
Air conditioning is an area where people can easily get left behind.
“Newer buildings have air conditioning units. Where are we leaving folks in the background that don't have the means to keep up?” Edwards said. “It's important to us to supply those air conditioning units because that's a need that we can meet.”
Tips of keeping cool during wildfire season if you can’t open your windows
- Use something to block the sun and heat out. Black out curtains would work, a reflective material like a space blanket, or even a piece of cardboard could help limit some of the sunlight and heat getting in to your home.
- Keeping lights and appliances off
- Wearing little clothing and taking cold showers
- Move to a different location, like a cooling center. Museums and wineries are unexpected but good places to go because they are cool and having very high indoor air quality standards.
“Just as much as people talk about air conditioning, I think we're going to start seeing an increase in discussion around having air filtration through one means or another,” Houston said.
If you want to make some upgrades to your home, Houston recommends first investing in a way to cool down and then looking at how to filter the air. That’s because heat is often a more immediate health threat than smoke.
“We're going to experience more heat, we're going to experience more wildfire smoke. These are not things that are going away anytime soon,” Houston said. “We need to be preparing ourselves for a future where extreme heat and wildfire smoke are just part of the summer seasons.”
