By Anna Gorman and Ana B. Ibarra AUGUST
8, 2018
Debbie
Dobrosky noticed a peculiar hue in the sky on Monday — “a very ugly yellow
casting” — as she peeked outside. A large cloud of smoke had begun to
cover the sun.
By
Tuesday, the smoke was so heavy that “even inside my apartment I’ve had to use
my inhaler twice this morning, which is not a normal thing,” said Dobrosky, a
Riverside County, Calif., resident who lives about 30 miles from a fast-growing
fire in the Cleveland National Forest.
“Today
I’m stuck inside, there’s no going out,” said Dobrosky, 67, who has chronic
obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), an inflammatory lung condition.
At
least 17 large fires are burning across California, destroying hundreds of thousands
of acres, sending toxic pollutants into the air and contaminating water
supplies. The air quality in certain areas — particularly near the massive
Mendocino Complex Fire in the northern part of the state — is among the worst
officials have ever seen.
And
conditions aren’t expected to improve as new blazes break out and others rage
uncontrolled. With temperatures at times reaching into the triple digits,
unpredictable winds and desiccated brush that serves as kindling, there’s no
end in sight to this year’s fire season.
“We are in a situation now where the wildfire
season doesn’t really have its normal beginning or end,” said Lori Kobza,
spokeswoman for the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District.
The
629,000 acres burned this year comes after massive burns last year in Ventura,
Santa Barbara, Napa and Sonoma counties, causing dozens of deaths, according to
the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
The
Mendocino Complex Fire in Northern California quickly grew to overtake last
year’s Thomas Fire as the largest in California history. And Shasta County’s
Carr Fire generated a “fire tornado” with winds of 143 mph that ripped through
the town of Redding.
Many
scientists attribute the more frequent and ferocious fires in the U.S. and
around the world, at least in part, to climate change.
Meanwhile,
air quality districts around the state have issued warnings to stay indoors —
with windows shut and the air conditioner running — and to limit outdoor
activities. In many places, kids’ ball games, riding lessons and summer camps have
been cancelled.
NASA satellite photos show
towers of smoke in California billowing into the atmosphere. Up and down the
state, air quality officials have marked huge swaths as
red with spots of purple — places where air is unhealthy or very unhealthy to
breathe. Smoke and ash can travel dozens or even hundreds of miles.
Children,
older people and those with respiratory illnesses such as asthma and COPD are
particularly at risk of smoke-related health problems. But otherwise-healthy
people also may experience short-term breathing problems, eye irritation and
coughing.
Fine
particulate matter, which is mostly invisible, can lead to inflammation of the
lungs and other organs. For people with cardiac problems, toxic smoke has been
associated with an increased risk of heart attacks, strokes and death, said Dr.
Michael Schivo, associate professor of medicine at University of
California-Davis.
Schivo,
who has lived in the Sacramento area most of his life, said he can’t remember
the air being as bad as in the past few years. More patients with chronic lung
disease are experiencing more uncontrolled symptoms, he said.
Lisa
Suennen, 52, who lives in Marin County, about 100 miles from the Mendocino
fire, has gone to the doctor three times in recent weeks because of lingering
respiratory issues. She said her problem started as a cold, but as the air got
worse, she developed bronchitis and her asthma flared up. “My lungs do not feel
healthy right now,” she said. “It is just not natural to breathe.”
Air
quality experts and physicians said more fires are bound to occur, and people
with health issues need to have a plan for the bad air days, such as keeping
extra medications on hand. “This isn’t the first fire season California has had
and it won’t be the last,” said Patrick Chandler, spokesman for the South Coast
Air Quality Management District. “You can’t really tough this out.”
Some
people say they have no choice but to take risks. Alyssa Mayo, 31, who has
struggled with respiratory issues for two decades, runs a rehabilitation center
for horses and dogs northeast of Sacramento. Now, she can’t see the mountain
range out her window because of the smoke.
But
Mayo said she has horses and dogs to care for. “Unfortunately, with our
business, we can’t sit inside all day,” she said. “I wish I could hunker down
and stay out of it, but these animals depend on us.”
Air
quality may be the most pressing issue, but scientists say that ultimately
water — another human necessity — is in danger, too. Ash, burned soil and toxic
residue from incinerated houses, businesses and machinery can make their way
into lakes, rivers and reservoirs, said Carmen Burton, a hydrologist with the
U.S. Geological Survey’s California Water Science Center in San Diego. The
extent of the contamination depends on factors such as topography and the
number and type of materials burned.
Wildfires
typically sweep through rural areas more than urban — and this year follows
that pattern, said Catherine Dunwoody, chief of the monitoring and laboratory
division for California’s Air Resources Board. Dunwoody cited some of the
mountainous areas in and around Yosemite, in particular, where a 94,000-acre fire
was substantially contained as of Tuesday afternoon.
Yet as
housing complexes encroach on wild lands, residents increasingly risk their
homes, their health and even their lives.
Some
parts of the state suffer more than others. The entire San Joaquin Valley faces
the ill effects of blazes not only in nearby Yosemite but throughout Northern
California, said Anthony Presto, a spokesman for the San Joaquin Valley Air
Pollution Control District. This region, he explained, is surrounded on three
sides by mountain ranges, making it easier for pollutants and smoke to funnel
southward and become trapped in a bowl.
Kimberly
McCoy, who lives in Fresno, has seen that firsthand. She and her son both have
asthma, and she said her chest feels tight and her son has been wheezing. McCoy
said she hasn’t let her son outdoors in recent days. “That’s really hard for an
active 6-year-old,” she said.
In
Sacramento County, smoke is now trapped under a ridge of high pressure. Kobza,
of the local air district, said that if masks are worn, they should be
specialized to protect from the fine particulate matter. Dust masks from the
hardware store won’t cut it, she said.
“People
have a false sense of security,” she said. “If it’s small enough to get into
the bloodstream, it’s small enough to get through paper.”
Some
people are wearing masks even in their cars. Dobrosky, of Riverside
County, said she recently ordered a pack of specialized masks from Amazon after
running out during last year’s blazes. After those fires, she also bought a
treadmill so that she could exercise inside. Even so, Dobrosky said, her lungs
are sore.
“Breathing”
she said, “has become a chore.”
Alex
Leeds Matthews and Stephanie O’Neill contributed to this story.
KHN’s
coverage of these topics is supported by California Health
Care Foundationand Blue Shield of California Foundation
This
story was produced by Kaiser Health
News, which publishes California
Healthline, a service of the California Health Care Foundation.
Anna
Gorman: agorman@kff.org,
@AnnaGorman
Ana B.
Ibarra: aibarra@kff.org,
@ab_ibarra
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