Californians have been smelling harmful smoke after another round of wildfires ignited this week, making it a serious public health and safety issue and bring yet another round of power cuts, evacuations, and climate alerts.
Health officials have issued air quality alerts, along with smoke and dust advisories in Southern California because of several wildfires burning in that region. Health effects from wildfires close to the populated areas, smoke exposure, and drinking contaminated water are becoming a major threat to people across the state.
We often think that wildfires happen in distant forests or grasslands, but that is not the case because they are spreading among communities and affecting a large number of residents in California.
Wildfire researchers believe that it is high time to consider fires, which affect communities, a public health challenge. This means we need to take more aggressive approaches to a number of issues, driving to the solutions that are equitable.
In the meantime, the Kincade Fire that is burning Northern California has sent smoke in the San Francisco Bay Area, triggering an air quality alert and recommending residents to drive less. On Monday, Oakland reported “unhealthy” air quality, which means everyone would experience health issues.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said “Windsor, Visalia, and Fresno have all reached ‘very unhealthy’ levels of pollution on Monday, which could lead to ‘more serious health effects.’”
California wildfires killed at least three people this month. The smoke emitted from these fires has become a serious public health issue. Millions of Californians are at risk of developing respiratory and heart issues from the smoke, burning forests, and chaparral.
According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), “most fire deaths are caused by smoke inhalation, not burns.”
The state has been facing a formidable challenge to reducing the risk of the effects of wildfires to communities, requiring the integration of new urban planning reforms and new strategies on evacuation alternatives and other relatable solutions. California wildfire is sounding alarm bells that should not be ignored.
