Smoke blankets U S West as wildfires rage raising health risks

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Smoke blankets U S West as wildfires rage raising health risks

A satellite image showing smoke across the Western U.S. on Saturday. Photo: NOAA/NESDIS/STAR covered the U.S. West in smoke over the weekend, triggering across the region. Why it matters: Wildfire smoke, especially when it coincides with , can be even hundreds of miles away from the actual fire because it carries harmful microscopic particles that can trigger inflammation in the lungs.Smoke hanging in the air near South Lake Tahoe, California, on Sept. 9. Photo: Stef Kight/Axios Threat level: A in The Lancet Planetary Health journal last year said that at least 33,000 people around the world die from pollution caused by wildfire smoke every year, though a disproportionate number of those deaths occur in Central and South America.The study said the groups most at risk are children up to 9 years old and people over 80 years old. By the numbers: At least 92 large wildfires or complex fires had burned nearly 728,000 acres in seven states as of Sunday, according to the from the National Interagency Fire Center. The big picture: Air quality alerts were in place across much of Washington, Oregon and Idaho on Sunday. Zoom in: In Washington, authorities ordered evacuations over the Bolt Creek Fire, which has burned across some . It's one of 14 large blazes burning in the state.The that's triggered the evacuation of people in the Oakridge, Westfir, and High Prairie areas and destroyed nearly 86,000 acres, is one of 10 large wildfires burning in Oregon, per the NIFC. It was 0% contained as of Sunday. Meanwhile, the destructive Fires were among 11 large fires burning in California. Cal Fire wet weather from Tropical Storm Kay helped containment efforts in the , near Hemet, to 49% Sunday. It's burned over 28,300 acres.Thunderstorms in the state did not reach , near Foresthill, and it remained 10% contained after razing more than 46,500 acres, . What we're watching: Air quality conditions were improving on Sunday night and were expected to continue to clear out by Monday afternoon, according to the NW . Of note: Nearly 49,700 fires have burned over 6.6 million acres across the U.S. so far this fire season, well above 10-year averages for previous seasons, per . Editor's note: This article has been updated with new details throughout.

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