State health officials say limiting exposure is important because heat and smoke can compound the strain on the body.
Wildfire smoke is creating dangerous air quality across parts of Washington, prompting health and air quality experts to urge residents to take precautions, especially during stretches of hot weather.
For some people in Western Washington, the combination of heat and smoke feels like a double whammy. “There's no AC so you kind of have to go outside and go to the lake, cool down. But when it's smoky it kind of sucks,” Cynthia Mounier said.
State health officials say limiting exposure is important because heat and smoke can compound the strain on the body.
When it's both hot and smoky, that definitely puts additional stress on our bodies.... Heat makes our hearts work harder,” said Annie Doubleday, an air quality epidemiologist with the Washington State Department of Health. “And if folks are also exposed to smoke, this can put a lot of additional stress on our lungs and our hearts.
Doubleday said the impacts can be worse for people with underlying health conditions, older adults and children. “For kids in particular, they are at higher risk of poorer health outcomes from smoke because they actually breathe in more smoke for their body weight compared to adults,” she said.
Conditions have been especially dangerous for areas east of the Cascades. “Very poor conditions over in Central and Eastern Washington. Very impaired air quality for quite some time,” said Beth Friedman, lead air quality forecaster and modeler for the Department of Ecology’s Air Quality Program. “These are consistently hazardous air quality conditions,” she said.
As air quality improves in parts of Western Washington, some residents said they are thinking about communities that face wildfire smoke year after year. “I used to live in Spokane. It’s devastating from what I’ve seen,” said Ty Phugh, who lives in Seattle. “I wish them the best. All the luck in the world. I mean, it's just one of those challenges of life that you have to get through.”
