How to Protect Yourself and Your Home From Wildfire Smoke

This guide is for anyone who lives where wildfire smoke drifts in during the fire season, even if the fires themselves are far away. You will learn how to read air quality alerts, set up a cleaner room at home, choose and use a mask sensibly and look after the people most affected by smoke. In any emergency, call your local emergency number and follow the advice of official emergency services and your government, which always overrides this guide. General information, not professional advice.

Why Wildfire Smoke Matters

Wildfire smoke is a mix of gases and very fine particles from burning vegetation, buildings and vehicles. The fine particles are small enough to travel hundreds of kilometres and to get deep into the lungs, which is why health agencies pay close attention to them. Smoke can arrive on a day with no fire in sight, and it can come and go as the wind changes.

For most healthy adults, short spells of smoke cause irritation: stinging eyes, a scratchy throat, coughing or a headache. Some people are more sensitive, including young children, older adults, pregnant people, and anyone with heart or lung conditions such as asthma. For them, smoky days call for more care and an earlier plan.

The good news is that simple steps make a real difference. Staying indoors with windows closed, cleaning the air in at least one room and cutting down on activities that add more particles indoors can lower your exposure considerably.

Smoke seasons are also becoming longer in many regions, so it pays to treat smoke planning as a regular part of the year rather than a one-off. The work you do once, such as choosing a room, buying filters and noting where to find alerts, carries over from season to season with only small checks.

Reading Air Quality Alerts

Many countries publish an air quality index that turns pollution readings into a simple scale with colours or numbers. The names, scales and thresholds differ between countries and sometimes between regions, so learn the one used where you live. Your national environment agency, health department or weather service will usually explain what each level means and what to do.

This table is a general pattern, not an official scale. Use the categories and advice from your own government. Smoke levels can change quickly, so check readings several times a day when smoke is around rather than relying on the morning forecast.

• Sign up for official alerts from your local or national emergency and environment agencies.
• Bookmark the official air quality website or app for your region.
• Keep a battery or wind-up radio for updates if the power or internet fails.
• Trust your senses too: if you can smell or see smoke indoors, act on it.

Low-cost home air sensors are popular and can help you see whether your cleaner room is working. Their readings can differ from official monitors, so use them to compare rooms and spot trends rather than to replace official alerts.