JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 As brush fires continue burning across the region, health officials say the biggest danger may not be the flames themselves, but the smoke drifting into neighborhoods and lungs.<\/p>\n
Dr. Sunil Joshi, the city of Jacksonville\u2019s chief health officer and an allergist and immunologist, said wildfire smoke contains fine particulate matter that can irritate airways and trigger serious breathing problems, especially for people with asthma, chronic bronchitis and other underlying lung conditions.<\/p>\n
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the fine particulate matter \u2014 about 2.5 microns \u2014 very small amounts that can cause problems, especially for people with asthma or chronic bronchitis,\u201d Joshi said.<\/p>\n Joshi warned that large-scale wildfires near populated areas could quickly strain the health care system.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we had a wildfire in Jacksonville, with a million people, it could send people to the emergency room or the hospital, especially those with respiratory illnesses and anyone with allergies in general,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks<\/a>]<\/p>\n Unlike typical seasonal allergens, wildfire smoke adds ash and microscopic particles to the air, creating an additional irritant that can worsen symptoms even for people who don\u2019t normally struggle with breathing issues. According to health officials, if smoke is visible or can be smelled, the air quality is already compromised.<\/p>\n Joshi said people who must go outside, particularly those in high-risk categories, should consider wearing a KN95 mask to reduce exposure.<\/p>\n \u201cEspecially if you can smell the smoke or see the smoke and you\u2019re in a high-risk category, it makes sense to wear the same mask we wore during COVID \u2014 a KN95 mask,\u201d Joshi said. \u201cThose keep out about 95 percent of small particles from getting into your airway.\u201d<\/p>\n [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter<\/a>] <\/p>\n Doctors say children, seniors, and people with asthma or underlying lung conditions face the greatest risk during smoky conditions. People who regularly exercise outdoors are also encouraged to make temporary adjustments.<\/p>\n \u201cThis would not be the best time to exercise outdoors,\u201d Joshi said. \u201cDoing it inside \u2014 in a gym or on a treadmill \u2014 absolutely.\u201d<\/p>\n Health officials recommend limiting outdoor activity when smoke is present, keeping windows and doors closed, using air purifiers if available, and seeking medical attention if breathing becomes difficult.<\/p>\n Click here<\/a> to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here<\/a> to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here<\/a> to stream Action News Jax live.<\/p>\n Action News Jax Top Stories<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 As brush fires continue burning across the region, health officials say the biggest danger may…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":145201,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[344,70273,347,70240,70271,28,348,116,351,118,117,70274,349,350,346,70238,70272,345],"class_list":{"0":"post-145200","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-action-news-jax","9":"tag-asthma","10":"tag-cbs47","11":"tag-chronic-bronchitis","12":"tag-dr-sunil-joshi","13":"tag-florida","14":"tag-fox30","15":"tag-jacksonville","16":"tag-jacksonville-fl","17":"tag-jacksonville-headlines","18":"tag-jacksonville-news","19":"tag-kn95-mask","20":"tag-northeast-florida","21":"tag-southeast-georgia","22":"tag-wfox","23":"tag-wildfire-smoke","24":"tag-wildfire-smoke-affecting-lungs","25":"tag-wjax"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145200"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145200\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}