Cigarettes and Campfires: 7 Ways You Can Accidentally Start a Fire
Wildfires destroy ecosystems and communities alike and can be ignited unintentionally. Here are 7 ways you can accidentally start a fire.
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When smoke from massive wildfires in the Canadian province of Quebec descended on the northeastern US in early June 2023, lung-related health problems quickly followed.
Researchers who examined data from 53 New York City hospital emergency departments found that Asthma-related ER visits up nearly 44% during those few smoky days, culminating on June 7, the city's worst air quality day since Canadian smoke.
Dr. Lawrence MacDonald, chief of pulmonary medicine at DMC Huron Valley Sinai Hospital in Commerce Township, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, said his emergency room saw more patients with pulmonary distress last summer when smoke from the Canadian wildfire blanketed the area for days at a time.
“There's been a marked increase in asthma exacerbations — needing steroids, needing to increase medications, needing to go to the ER,” he said. “Absolutely, the presence of this stuff in the air increases the likelihood of you getting sick, being symptomatic, ending up in the ER.”
According to the World Health Organization, fire smoke can contain a mixture of dangerous air pollutants such as fine particles known as PM2.5, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, aromatic hydrocarbons and lead. In addition to polluting the air with toxic pollutants, wildfires also affect the climate by releasing large amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
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Perhaps the most insidious of pollutants is PM2.5, particles 2.5 microns in size or smaller — so tiny that they are about 30 times the width of a human hair. The body's defense systems: fluid tissue with immune cells in the nose and throat and mucous in the lung's airways are designed to trap particles, with coughing and sneezing expelling them, MacDonald said. But PM2.5 is so small that it can get past these defenses to settle deep inside their lungs and tiny air sacs.
“Our lungs are built to protect us from things like this, but really small particles can evade and evade the protective system we have built into us,” he said.
Children, the elderly, pregnant women and people with pre-existing medical conditions such as asthma and COPD are more susceptible to health complications from wildfire smoke. The WHO notes that PM2.5 from wildfire smoke is linked to premature deaths and can cause and worsen diseases of the lungs, heart, brain and nervous system, skin, gut, kidneys, eyes, nose and liver. It has also been shown to lead to cognitive impairment and memory loss.
What can be done about it? I stay inside.
A new study from the Yale School of Public Health investigated the association between long-term exposure to wildland fire PM2.5 smoke and deaths in the contiguous US from 2007 to 2020. Excluding PM2.5 exposure from other types air pollution and other potential factors, the study found that when the PM2.5 concentration of wildfire smoke in an area was 5 or more micrograms per cubic meter over a 12-month moving average, nonaccidental deaths per month increased by 2 per 100,000 people exposed. The death rate also increased by a fraction per month when the average air concentration was between 0.1 and 5 micrograms per cubic meter, the study found.
“Certainly, across the Midwest and the East, we saw some of the worst air quality disruptions we've ever seen from wildfire smoke” in 2023, said Vijay Lemaye, a Wisconsin-based environmental epidemiologist and director of applied science initiatives. research at the non-profit environmental organization Natural Resources Defense Council.
“From a public health perspective, this is really concerning. As much as we can see the air with smog, these tiny particles are dangerous to us at levels much lower than what we experienced.”
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There isn't much the public can do when wildfire smoke descends on their community except try to avoid it. The US Environmental Protection Agency recommends staying inside with doors and windows closed, running an air conditioning system with high efficiency filters if possible. Portable air purifiers are also recommended.
Those without such conveniences should consider seeking refuge elsewhere from smoke if possible, the EPA recommends. Also, avoid adding pollution indoors through things like burning candles, using gas, propane, or wood stoves or fireplaces, vacuuming, or using aerosol sprays.
Those with asthma or other known heart or lung conditions should work closely with their doctor on an intensive response plan in case wildfire smoke causes increased difficulty breathing, MacDonald said.
“There's going to be a lot of people coming in who don't have a doctor, or maybe have a doctor but don't have a plan,” he said.
“If you end up in the ER, it's treatment failure.”
Contact Keith Matheny: kmatheny@freepress.com. This story was sponsored by the Pulitzer Center.