West Coast wildfires create air quality as dangerous as smoking 20 packs of cigarettes’

The raging West Coast wildfires have created dangerous air quality conditions equivalent to smoking 20 packs of cigarettes, according to California Gov Gavin Newsom.

In California alone, the fires have killed 22 people and at least 11 other deaths have been reported across Oregon and Washington state. 

Newsom said the wildfires, which have charred over 3.2 million acres and destroyed about 4,000 structures in California, ‘is equivalent to smoking 20 packs of cigarettes’.

The raging West Coast wildfires have created dangerous air quality conditions equivalent to smoking 20 packs of cigarettes, according to California Gov Gavin Newsom (pictured on Friday after touring the North Complex Fire zone in Butte County) 

According to IQAir.com, which tracks air quality around the world, Seattle (pictured), Portland, San Francisco and Los Angeles all have some of the worst in the world

Late afternoon light catches smoke from the Cold Springs Canyon Pearl Hill Fire in Omak, Washington 

In a statement on Sunday, the NFL said it is currently monitoring conditions to determine if it’s safe for the San Francisco 49ers game to be held at the stadium. 

Public health officials warned residents to keep indoors with the windows shut, to set air conditioners to run on recirculated air instead of fresh, and to use air purifiers if they had them. 

Meanwhile, they wrestled with whether to open ‘smoke shelters’ for homeless people or others lacking access to clean air amid the COVID-19 pandemic and concerns about herding people indoors.

‘The same population that is most vulnerable to the virus is also most vulnerable to the smoke,’ Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan noted during a news conference.

The sky turned a hazy, grayish white across the Northwest as winds that had previously pushed much of the smoke offshore shifted, bringing unhealthy levels of near-microscopic dust, soot and ash particles to Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver, British Columbia. 

The particles are small enough that they can penetrate deep into the lungs, and health effects can include chest pain, arrhythmia and bronchitis. 

Those with preexisting conditions such as heart and lung disease or asthma are especially at risk.

In a news conference Friday, Washington Gov Jay Inslee insisted on calling the blazes ‘climate fires’ rather than wildfires. 

Public health officials warned residents to keep indoors with the windows shut, to set air conditioners to run on recirculated air instead of fresh, and to use air purifiers if they had them. Evacuees are seen staying in tents at Milwaukie-Portland Elks Lodge on Sunday 

A sign advises to social distance at a marina building on Detroit Lake burned by the Beachie Creek Fire on Saturday in Detroit, Oregon

‘This is not an act of God,’ Inslee said. ‘This has happened because we have changed the climate of the state of Washington in dramatic ways.’

Seattle ordered parks, beaches and boat ramps closed through one of the last hot weekends of the summer to discourage outdoor recreation, and officials were opening a clean air shelter Friday afternoon that can hold 77 people.

The facility, which had been set up as an overflow COVID-19 care facility, is large enough to allow for social distancing, they said.

San Francisco officials were also opening ‘weather relief centers’ that will stay open through the weekend, said Mary Ellen Carroll, director of the city’s Department of Emergency Management. City buses were free for everyone so those who need to can reach the centers.

Much of California was covered by a thick layer of smoke being pumped into the air by dozens of raging wildfires. 

In San Francisco, the gray air smelled of burned wood and visibility was clouded by ‘very unhealthy’ air, according to the Bay Area Air Quality District.

Residents were also asked to avoid activities that could further degrade the air quality, including unnecessary driving, lawn mowing and barbecuing.

Working in University Place, a Tacoma suburb, Washington state Department of Ecology spokesman Andy Wineke said the smoke had obliterated his typical view of the Olympic Mountains.

‘I can barely see my neighbor,’ he said.