07/17/2026
The smoke we are seeing is not just haze. It carries dangerous toxins, particles of combustion from distant wild fires. It can cause or worsen health conditions. Here is what is recommended:
Inside:
● Keep windows and doors closed. Run your air conditioning or air handler on recirculate — not on the setting that pulls outdoor air in.
â—Ź Run a portable air purifier with a HEPA filter if you have one. A well-sealed room with a purifier is the cleanest air most people can reach this week.
â—Ź No purifier? Here's the cheap, quick fix: tape a MERV-13 furnace filter to the intake side of a box fan and run it in the room where you spend the most time. It's a few dollars at the hardware store, it works, and it can make a real dent in the particulate in a small room. Watch the arrows on the filter so the air pulls through it, and don't leave the fan running unattended overnight.
â—Ź Skip anything that adds indoor particulate: no candles, no frying, no vacuuming without a HEPA unit, no wood stove.
● Check on neighbors — especially older adults, people with heart or lung conditions, and families with small children — who may not have AC or a purifier.
If you have to go out:
● Check the real AQI first — MiAir, AirNow, or your weather app's air-quality number — not the sky.
â—Ź Keep it short and keep it easy. This is not the week for a 5-mile run or heavy yard work. Exertion pulls far more air, and far more particulate, into your lungs.
â—Ź If you must be out in it for a stretch, a properly fitted N95 or better respirator offers real protection. A cloth mask or surgical mask does not stop PM2.5.
â—Ź Know your body's warning signs: difficulty breathing, chest tightness, a persistent cough, or throat irritation mean get inside and reassess. Chest pain or serious shortness of breath is a 911 call, not a tough-it-out.
In the car:
● Set your air conditioning to recirculate — the button that shows a car with a curved arrow looping inside it. On the fresh-air setting, your vents are pulling smoky outside air straight into the cabin. Recirculate keeps the system cycling the air already inside instead of feeding you more of what's out there.
â—Ź Keep the windows closed. An open window undoes everything the recirculate setting is doing for you.
How long does this last?
This holds until the weather changes it.
Don't take a single clear-looking hour as the all-clear. Check the number, not the sky.
Bottom line: Trust the particulate figures, not your eyes or sense of smell. The sky is not a reliable indicator of safe air to breathe. Believe the alert, believe the number, and act like the air is what it actually is — a health hazard you can't see. Stay in, keep it closed up, mask up if you must go out, and check on those people who can't protect themselves, the elderly, those with respiratory or cardiac problems, the very young. And don't forget about pets. Their bodies can't protect themselves any better than yours without assistance
