"Mutual aid groups that started giving out PPEs during Covid are now loaning air purifiers and distributing masks to fume-addled communities"
"Miquette Thompson’s home in rural Mendocino county has been covered in smoke all week. There are the nearby Feliz and Woodside fires in northern California, which have burned more than 1,000 acres, as well as the wildfires devastating Oregon and Washington that are sending smoke their way, too.
“It’s become not unusual,” she said of walking outside and seeing a hazy sky.
The wildfire smoke means dangerous air quality for her under-resourced, “wee rural little area”, Thompson said. Wildfire smoke is potentially unsafe for all populations, but particularly for elderly people and those with respiratory conditions. Hospitalizations for asthma go up 10% on smoke days, according to a recent University of California study.
Having locally organized around safety amid airborne illness for years – distributing free personal protective equipment (PPE) to neighbors and Covid tests at farmers markets – Thompson said she watched as the local health department failed to distinguish which types of masks help with smoke issues (N95 masks are better at filtering out tiny particles; cloth or surgical masks are less effective). So with her fellow organizers at Mendo Clean Air Club, she began partnering with local businesses that offered to distribute masks, too."
