Should my lungs and I evac from Hollywood?

October 25, 2007 1:01 PM

I live in Hollywood, and I am seeing news stories that the smoke from the SoCal wildfires are coming right at me in the next few days. What level of danger in my in? Do I need to evac? Seriously, is this causing permanent damage to my delicate lungs?
posted by scrawlyman to Health & Fitness (12 answers total)

I live in one of the areas that had to be evacuated by the Witch Creek Fire. The air quality in SD is definitely not pleasant. I wear a particulate air filter when I go outside, though I feel very self-conscious about it. Better to be unfashionable than be in a cancer ward, I suppose.

Here is what the American Lung Association has to say. Basically if you don't have a pre-existing lung or heart condition, just stay inside as much as you can, with your A/C on if you've got one (just the fan, really, as long as the air is being filtered it doesn't need to be cold). More info from the San Diego branch (PDF).
posted by Thoughtcrime at 1:18 PM on October 25, 2007

I've been about 5 miles away from the Santiago fire that has been burning in Orange County, since Monday. I have allergies and a sore throat so the ash and smoke have been exacerbating those conditions.

According to Dr. Mom, the ash does have a small amount of cancer causing chemicals, but as long as you're fairly healthy and not exposed to it for too long, you should be ok. The ash is especially dangerous to people with lung conditions and asthma.

I've been staying indoors as much as possible, running the air conditioner in my car and home, and praying for rain.
posted by wilde at 1:19 PM on October 25, 2007

There's a daily smoke advisory update over at the AQMD (Air Quality Management District) site which has some tips.
posted by jaimev at 1:19 PM on October 25, 2007

If it's a really big deal to you, then yeah, you should probably evacuate because of the smoke. But no government agency is going to tell you to do so. Even though it's been pretty light in my area (I'm about halfway between the two major San Diego fires), I've been right in the middle of all kinds of smoke since Sunday, and I haven't coughed once. Generally, I think you're worrying too much about it.

*Most* of the smoke is composed of burned vegetative matter, since these are largely brush fires. But, there are some carcinogenic and toxic elements tossed in there that might be worrisome, although they'll be in such small amounts that it shouldn't be an issue. You'd probably be worse off walking around outside the clubs on Sunset between bands while people are smoking or standing next to your car while filling it up with gas.

If you do evacuate, you'll want to skip town for quite a while--possibly up to six months. When the last huge fires happened in 2003, a month after the fires ended we had a really windy day. So much ash and dust was kicked up from the fires that had happened earlier that it looked like whole new fires were starting with billowing smoke clouds and the whole bit. How long will it be until that danger fully passes?

You already live in the middle of LA. I think you'll be okay.
posted by LionIndex at 1:24 PM on October 25, 2007

I'm not in Hollywood but if you want to get a taste for what might be coming your way, just come visit us over in the Valley, we've been engulfed by the smoke since Sunday.

Today seems to be the worst so far, past few days at least saw some patches of blue sky, today it's completely gray and casting eerie orange shadows, raining ash. It's hard to breathe and my throat and eyes are burning. Despite being told not to worry, it's hard to believe that breathing this crap for days on end isn't causing permanent damage.
posted by RoseovSharon at 1:28 PM on October 25, 2007

uhm... you live between the 101, 110, 405 and 10 freeways. especially the hills are the worst spot possible to be in when the breeze comes in from the ocean and keeps all that pollution clogged up in the horseshoe that are the san gabriel mountains. there's really no point in evacuating now, it just won't make that much of a difference on your health anymore.

(this is not the rant of an outside LA-hater. I used to live in pasadena, silverlake, los feliz, marina del rey and venice and I loved that time.)
posted by krautland at 1:30 PM on October 25, 2007

I live in the Valley just north of Hollywood over the Cahuenga Pass (and work in Miracle Mile, so drive through Hollywood daily). My boyfriend and I have noticed that our throats have been scratchy since the weekend, plus my sinuses and eyes have been really bugging me. It's not particularly delightful, but -- assuming you don't have severe asthma or immune system problems -- in and of itself it's not going to kill you. The main precautions I've been hearing are to avoid exercising outside (and not to exercise too hard at all, even inside) and to run the a/c if you've got it.

I was here during the 2003 fires as well, and recall also seeing some fine ash for a few days. All-in-all weird and not pleasant, but it's not like a cloud of radiation that you've got one chance to outrun at the risk of being ill for the rest of your life. And as others have said, you already have some lung damage simply by virtue of living in L.A. (as you would in any major metropolis, even those without the bad air rep we've got) -- which, incidentally, actually has better air quality than it did a few decades ago. (Not that that's much consolation at the moment.)
posted by scody at 1:42 PM on October 25, 2007

If you want to check this on a regular basis, as I do up here in the San Joaquin Valley (We're #1...in childhood asthma!) visit the main AirNow page for the U.S. or the Los Angeles Inland Air Now page.
posted by jocelmeow at 1:55 PM on October 25, 2007

I live up in Santa Barbara and we recently spent 2 months having random ashy days due to the Zaca Fire. Depending on the direction of the wind the ashfall ranged from none to light to heavy. A lot of my coworkers and I developed slightly sore throats; although I wouldn't rule out it being psychosomatic since I avoided spending time outdoors during this time.

I did have a coworker who suffers from severe asthma and he had to spend a lot of days at home because even leaving the house was tough. However, he was the only person I know who had any large reaction.

Cliff's Notes: If you don't have a pre-existing respiratory issue then you likely have nothing to worry about. (IANAD)
posted by eric-neg at 2:26 PM on October 25, 2007

Keep your doors and windows closed (quite fun during a Santa Anna.) If it gets too stuffy, run the AC. Spend as little time as possible outdoors and avoid strenuous exercise when you do go outside. I'd say that that will save your lungs from the bulk of possible exposure. As for evacuation, I doubt it (though if you DO have a lung condition, it might be a good idea for at least a few days...)

Having just spent 4 days doing this myself, yes, it's a hot and stuffy pain in the ass but it really does help.

----

Piggy-back related issue... (Should I be making a new AskMe for such a related question?)

For two days I was right in the Witch Fire smoke plume in Encinitas. Now I'm home again but am surrounded by people using leaf-blowers to clear off the ash fall... I'm probably going to continue to do everything I suggested, but which of those two sets of airborn particulate matter do you think is more harmful, more likely to take up residence in my lungs?
posted by Barmecide at 6:27 PM on October 25, 2007

I forgot to mention...the tags
Did Sanjaya start the fires?
posted by wilde at 11:45 AM on October 26, 2007

Last summer in Victoria, Australia we had terrible fires raging, and many days looked as if a rather thick fog had settled. During this time I walked to and from work (1.5 hours) each day, and suffered no noticeable short term effects (despite being mildly asthmatic) . After a day of it I didn't even notice the smell.
posted by tomble at 5:01 PM on October 26, 2007