We're thinking about our correspondent in Del Mar who has been "lucky," not forced from house and home for any great length of time but obliged to clean every single object in the house affected by smoke damage. Smoke! What is not appreciated is what it's like to live in a place where you can never breathe free.
We have experienced forest fires up close and personal. When the scary part begins to get under control, as the fires in California now seem to be controlled at least to some extent, the smoke remains. Even here in Texas, air is dense with "cedar" smoke in certain seasons when ranch owners do their civic duty and burn off fast-growing, invasive Ashe juniper. You get to the point when you want to climb in your car and drive as fast as possible to the top of an Alp or to a Pacific Island and spend an unlimited time breathing fresh air.
So when we read that things are a bit better in southern California and we "breathe easier" for our friends there, remember that it will be weeks before their air is free of particles -- and of reminders of what they've been through.
Update: Apparently there's more to worry about than just the smell of smoke, as though that weren't enough...
Even as many of the wildfires in flame-ravaged Southern California died down and residents began returning home, lingering dust and soot-laden air made it difficult for many to breathe even a sigh of relief Saturday. Air quality remained poor in the central San Bernardino Mountains and parts of the San Bernardino Valley, as well as swaths of Orange and Riverside Counties. In San Diego County, where only two of five major fires were more than 50 percent contained, the air was especially dismal Friday…
…Satellite pictures showed thick smoke hanging over the entire region, affecting health of people all over Southern California. Residents staying in areas with bad air were advised to avoid exerting themselves. Children and people with heart and respiratory conditions were urged to stay indoors with windows and doors closed and air conditioners on.
“In the immediate aftermath of a fire, we're all at risk of the fine particulate matter we can inhale,'' said Julia Robinson Shimizu, a spokeswoman for Breathe L.A. “In general it's good to limit outdoor strenuous activity at least seven days after the fires have ended.'' The University of California San Diego Medical Center saw an increase in patients coming in with breathing troubles they believe were related to air pollution...
