Do wildfires cause bad air quality? How bad is it for you? Here's what Arizonans must know

Yahoo

15-05-2025

Wildfires in Arizona can send smoke drifting across the state and cause uncomfortable health issues for residents.
JoAnna Strother, Phoenix-based regional senior director of advocacy at the American Lung Association, said smoke can travel in the air hundreds of thousands of miles.
"Even if the wildfire might be in Nevada, California, it can still impact us here in Arizona," Strother said.
The way smoke travels depends on wind patterns and whether there's rain or cloud cover.
Arizona Department of Environmental Quality meteorologist Matthew Pace said smoke in the day and smoke at night move differently.
In the Arizona daytime, Pace explained, light-to moderate smoke moves northeast. The biggest concern looms at night, as fire smoke drops to the ground because temperatures are cooler, Pace said.
"Smoke is particulate matter that's 2.5 microns and smaller, so essentially 20 times smaller than the human hair," Pace said. "Those, obviously, when you're breathing them, they can go further down into your lungs."
The Arizona Department of Health Services states small particles in the wildfire smoke cause:
Burning eyes.
Runny nose.
Scratchy throat.
Headaches.
Illness such as bronchitis.
The Health Department also warns wildfire smoke worsens these preexisting conditions:
Heart disease.
Lung disease.
Asthma.
Emphysema.
COPD.
Children and the elderly are also at risk.
The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality lists three levels of precaution:
Level 1: Stay smoke-aware (no smoke, to haze, to light smoke, to smoke in the vicinity).
Level 2: Minimize outdoor activities (smoke in the vicinity, from patchy smoke to widespread moderate smoke).
Level 3: Stay inside (heavy to dense smoke).
The department's website includes forecasts on wildfire smoke when air quality could be impacted, and it also offers hourly updated air quality reports for different Arizona cities.
Phoenix.
Tucson.
Yuma.
Flagstaff.
Prescott.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: How bad is breathing in wildfire smoke? What to know in Arizona