7 tips for staying healthy and surviving fire season

Even for Bay Area residents not actively fleeing the dozens of wildfires burning in the region, the infernos have sent unhealthful smoke wafting across the sky and dusted cars and houses in ash. Hot weather is expected to continue, especially in the East Bay and South Bay. And the coronavirus pandemic is still a serious threat. Here are seven tips for staying safe and healthy during fire season.

1. Be prepared if you need to evacuate

Gather a few key things so you’re not scrambling when the evacuation order comes in. Make sure you pack medicine, important documents like passports and birth certificates, glasses or contact lenses if you wear them, chargers for your phone and an extra battery pack if you have it, flashlight, a change of clothes, nonperishable food — think granola bars — and water. And don’t forget to pack face masks to protect from COVID-19.

If there’s a baby in the family, make sure you pack formula or other essentials for the little one, and pack food for your pets. Remember to bring your wallet or purse if you have to flee.

Establish a meeting place in case family members get separated. Designate an emergency contact out of the area to let everyone know you are safe.

2. Make sure you have a safe way to get out

At least five people lost their lives in the fires that ripped through Sonoma County several years ago specifically because they could not get their cars out of their garage. When the power goes out, garage doors often stop working. In the wake of the devastating fires, lawmakers in Sacramento passed a new law requiring new electric garage door openers to be equipped with backup batteries. But for people with older openers, make sure to know where the emergency release cord is before you actually need it.

The doors can be really heavy, though. If there’s a chance you need to evacuate and aren’t certain you can get the door open, consider parking out on the driveway or street, or leave the garage door up.

Plan possible evacuation routes in advance. Is there another way out if your street is blocked?

3. Take coronavirus precautions

Mask up and carry hand sanitizer. That goes for people in active fire areas and residents elsewhere in the Bay Area dealing with smoky air. The coronavirus can be deadly for otherwise healthy people even when the air is clear, but it can be especially harmful when air quality is bad.

“If you get COVID and you’re being exposed to a lot of particulate matter from the fires, that’s going to certainly make (your symptoms) worse,” John Swartzberg, an infectious disease expert and professor emeritus at UC Berkeley who has been consulting with firefighters in the state, told this news organization recently.

4. Stay home

If possible, stay home and button up the house — close windows and doors and hunker down. Staying in helps stop the spread of the coronavirus and helps protect your lungs from smoky air. Absolutely do not exercise outside.

If you have access to an air purifier, even one with limited capacity, you can set up a designated “clean room,” said Mary Prunicki, director of Air Pollution and Health Research at the Sean N. Parker Center for Allergy and Asthma Research at Stanford University. And if you do have a preexisting condition like asthma, have refill prescriptions on hand.

Aside from the mild throat and eye irritation many people experience when the air is smoky, Prunicki said, poor air quality also can mean more heart attacks, strokes and other major medical problems. If you don’t feel good, contact your doctor.

5. Stay cool

It’s still really hot in large swaths of the Bay Area, and many homes don’t have air conditioning. For those lucky enough to have A/C, it’s generally safe to use the systems even if the air quality outside is bad because most don’t rely on outside air. But double-check to make sure before turning on your system. If, like many residents, you’re sweltering in a closed-up house without benefit of cool air, make sure you wear lightweight, loose clothing and drink plenty of water.

And if the heat gets to be too much — this is especially true for the very young and elderly — go to a cooling center, which many cities and counties offer during extremely warm weather, even during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

6. Sign up for alerts

Regardless of whether you’re in imminent fire danger and want to know whether to evacuate, or you just want to know why the air in your neighborhood is so smoky, signing up for alerts is a good way to stay informed. Each Bay Area county has its own alert system, which you can sign up for online, and you can generally provide a phone number and/or email address and receive texts and emails with updates specific to your location.

7. Protect your home

Consider “hardening” your home against wildfires. This can range from making sure rain gutters are clear and removing dead or very dry plants and vegetation around your home to more expensive fixes like replacing wooden or shingle roofs with more fire-resistant material. Cal Fire has created an online list of suggestions.