Wildfire Smoke Is Hitting Southern California: How to Protect Yourself

Southern California is breathing it in again. At least seven wildfires across Ventura, Los Angeles, Riverside, Santa Barbara, and San Diego counties are sending smoke and ash into communities across the region. The South Coast Air Quality Management District extended its smoke advisory this week, warning of unhealthy air across the Los Angeles Basin, Inland Empire, Coachella Valley, and the Catalina Island coast.

LAist's reporting captured what many Angelenos already noticed: a hazy sky, an acrid smell, and air quality maps lit up in shades of orange and red. The Sandy Fire near Simi Valley, the Bain and Verona fires in Riverside County, and a 14,600-acre fire on Santa Rosa Island are the largest of the active blazes. Weak winds are limiting smoke dispersal, allowing pollution to linger long after the flames are out of view.

What a Smoke Advisory Actually Means

A smoke advisory is a public-health warning from local air quality officials. It's issued when measured or forecasted air quality reaches levels that can affect your health, even if you can't see or smell the smoke directly.

According to the SCAQMD, the current advisory expects:

• Widespread moderate smoke impacts across the LA Basin, Catalina Island, Inland Empire, and Coachella Valley.
• Areas adjacent to the Sandy Fire (from Simi Valley to the San Fernando Valley and out to Arcadia) may reach the Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups category or higher at times.
• The Bain and Verona fires are expected to impact portions of the Inland Empire with similar AQI levels.
• Smoke from Santa Rosa Island, already drifting over the Pacific, was expected to push onshore overnight, affecting the entire coastline of LA and Orange counties.

Los Angeles County Public Health urges everyone in affected areas to limit physical exertion outdoors and indoors, and asks people with heart disease, asthma, or other chronic respiratory conditions to stay inside as much as possible, even where smoke or ash is not visible.

Why Wildfire Smoke Is Worse Than "Regular" LA Air

Southern Californians are used to smog. Wildfire smoke is a different problem.

"Wildfire smoke is generally worse for your health than the kind of garden variety urban pollution Angelenos are used to," Suzanne Paulson, an atmospheric chemist at UCLA, told LAist.

The reason is what's in the smoke. Wildfires don't just burn vegetation. They burn structures, vehicles, plastics, paints, fertilizers, and household chemicals. The resulting smoke carries fine particulate matter (PM2.5) along with carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, and a long list of toxic byproducts. PM2.5 particles are small enough to slip past your body's defenses, lodge deep in the lungs, and pass into the bloodstream.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency links short-term PM2.5 exposure to asthma attacks, heart attacks, irregular heartbeat, decreased lung function, and premature death in people with heart or lung disease. Children, older adults, pregnant people, and outdoor workers face elevated risk.

And as ABC7 pointed out this week, the high temperatures and intense sunlight that often accompany SoCal fire weather also accelerate the formation of ground-level ozone, layering another pollutant on top of the smoke.

"It's not always possible to see or smell smoke," Scott Epstein of the SCAQMD told ABC7. "Also, there are pollutants that we worry about in Southern California that you can't smell, like ozone or smog pollution."

How to Check the Air Where You Live

Air quality during a smoke event can change dramatically between neighborhoods, and even between blocks. Government reference stations are accurate but sparse. They can't tell you what the air looks like over your house, your child's school, or your morning commute.

That's where community air quality data fills the gap. The PurpleAir map shows real-time PM2.5 readings from thousands of community sensors across Southern California, often updated every two minutes. During the current advisory, you can:

• See which parts of the Basin, Inland Empire, or coastal corridor are most affected right now.
• Watch smoke move with the wind as conditions shift through the day.
• Decide when it's safe to open windows again as conditions improve.

For wildfire-specific tracking, the EPA AirNow Fire and Smoke Map overlays satellite smoke detections, official sensors, and PurpleAir data so you can see both where the smoke is coming from and where it's settling. To follow the active fires themselves, CalFire's incident page tracks containment and evacuation orders.

How to Protect Yourself and Your Family

The single most protective step you can take is also the simplest one: spend less time breathing smoky air.

• Stay indoors when air quality is poor. This is the most effective thing most people can do, according to Paulson. Close windows and doors. Don't run whole-house fans, attic fans, or swamp coolers that pull outside air in.
• Set HVAC and air purifiers to recirculate. If your system has a MERV 13 or higher filter, use it. A portable HEPA purifier in the room where you spend the most time, especially the bedroom, makes a measurable difference.
• Make a low-cost air cleaner if you don't have a purifier. A box fan paired with a furnace-grade filter can dramatically lower indoor PM2.5 for under $50. Schools and shelters have used this approach during wildfire emergencies.
• Wear a properly fitted N95 or KN95 if you have to be outside. Cloth masks and surgical masks won't filter fine particles.
• Change your route, not just your destination. Paulson, an avid bike commuter, told LAist she regularly checks the map and changes her route when air quality dips. Even short detours away from the worst hot spots can meaningfully reduce your exposure.
• Keep an eye on kids, older adults, and people with asthma or heart conditions. Make sure inhalers and medications are on hand and within easy reach.
• Don't add to indoor PM2.5. Avoid burning candles, frying food, vacuuming without a HEPA filter, or smoking indoors during a smoke event.

When Conditions Improve

Smoke conditions in Southern California can clear quickly once winds change or the fires gain containment. SCAQMD forecasts say smoke may improve during daytime hours in areas not directly adjacent to the fires, with surface-level smoke creeping back in during overnight hours when air gets cooler and more stable.

Before you reopen windows or take kids back outside, check the community readings near you, not just the regional forecast. With the PurpleAir map, you can see whether your own block, school, or workplace has dropped back into healthier ranges before deciding what's safe.

The Sandy, Bain, Verona, and Santa Rosa Island fires are a reminder that fire season is already here. Even when the flames stay out of your neighborhood, the smoke does not. Knowing what is in the air around you is the first and most important step in protecting your family while these fires burn.

PurpleAir Map · Air Quality Monitors · EPA Fire and Smoke Map · SCAQMD Air Quality Map