Health officials warned Los Angeles residents Saturday to stay indoors as dangerous wildfire smoke billowed through the area. Terrible flames in America’s second largest city are spreading toxic clouds in the air, covering a vast area with suffocating smoke.
“We are all experiencing this wildfire smoke, which is a mixture of tiny particles, gases and water vapor,” Anish Mahajan of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said at a news conference.
Reading: LA wildfire will be the costliest US disaster, will cause $135 billion in damage
“It’s those tiny particles that get into our nose and throat and cause sore throats and headaches. Everyone in areas where smoke or smoke odors are visible, and even where You don’t see that, we know the air quality is bad, so you should limit outdoor exposure as much as possible.”
Mr Mahajan said healthy individuals should also stay inside as much as possible by using some kind of air filtration system.
People who have to work outside should wear N95 masks, which filter small particles and prevent them from entering the body. But the young, old and sick people should be especially careful at this time.
Reading: “Miracles Never End”: Man on How His Los Angeles Mansion Survived a Fire
“People who are at greater risk for poor health effects…children, the elderly, people with respiratory and heart conditions, and those with weakened immunity may have worse symptoms such as shortness of breath, wheezing, cough and chest pain ” He said.
Several fires around Los Angeles have devastated vast areas, reducing homes, businesses, cars and vegetation to ashes. This means that plastics, chemicals, fuels and construction materials all turned into smoke and are now hanging in the air over the densely populated area.
On Friday, Los Angeles County declared a public health emergency due to the smoke, and banned the use of machines like leaf blowers, which can blow up dangerous ash.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
