Only you can prevent wildfires, but it’s important to keep yourself healthy after they start.
With heavy clouds of smoke rolling over much of Essex County from brush fires in Salem, Middleton and other communities Tuesday, Dr. Aanchal Gupta of Beth Israel Lahey Pulmonary in Beverly said children, the elderly and those who are pregnant, have asthma or have underlying conditions like COPD or heart disease should take extra precautions this week.
That means keeping doors and windows closed and avoiding as much outdoor activity as possible. Now’s not a good time to burn candles and incense or light fireplaces or wood burning stoves either, she added, since that adds more unhealthy particles to the air inside of homes, she said.
Using air purifiers or air filters in HVAC systems can help keep the smoke outdoors from coming in. The air recirculation button in vehicles can also keep out some of the smoky air from inside the car.
“For people who live close to the fires, I think it’s good to have a stock of their medications and groceries if possible so that they don’t have to do a lot of outdoor activities or running around,” Gupta said.
People should keep taking these precautions in the few days after the fires are finally put out, since poor air quality can temporarily linger following a wildfire, she said.
It’s too soon to tell how many people are feeling negative health effects from the fires that have burned 550 acres across the state this week. Gupta’s office hasn’t gotten calls from patients complaining of more symptoms, as was the case when New England suffered poor air quality conditions last year due to historic wildfires burning in Canada.
“Most of my patients who had asthma or COPD were having flare ups of their symptoms: more wheezing, more shortness of breath, more chest tightness symptoms, and some of them even ended up needing treatment for a flare up because their regular, routine medications were not able to manage the symptoms at that time,” she said. “A few of them needed to go to urgent care for flare ups.”
An air quality alert was in place for western Essex County Tuesday night because of the fires, according to the National Weather Service.
The highest readings of particulate matter were in western Essex County Tuesday, particularly around the Lawrence and Haverhill areas, the state’s Department of Environmental Protection said.
Clouds of smoke were visible over I-95, I-93 and Route 1 Tuesday morning. By afternoon, a south easterly wind had cleared out much of that smoke, sending it further north, said Andrew Loconto, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service.
The smoke from the fires could also be smelled in Boston.
Some rain was expected for Essex County Tuesday night, but nothing strong enough to put out the fires.
More rain is expected Friday.
“It won’t be a soaking rain, but we’ll take anything we can get,” Loconto said. “Then looking out to early next week, we’ll unfortunately resume a dry weather pattern again. We’re not looking at a substantial amount of rain anytime soon.”
Contact Caroline Enos at CEnos@northofboston.com