By Natalie Banach
Bruin senior staff
nbanach@media.ucla.edu
Punctured by brilliant sunsets of blood orange and lavender, the
past few evenings have been a reflection of the wildfires blazing
across the Los Angeles, Ventura and San Bernardino counties.
Yet perhaps a more important consequence for many living
throughout the Southland is what residents can’t see with the
naked eye.
The wildfire season, now in full swing, often brings with it
diminished air quality in the form of a smoky haze, which can cause
reduced visibility and respiratory problems. The smoke on campus
was visibly the heaviest Thursday evening, within the first 24
hours after the fire broke out.
“Most of what you’re seeing is fine and coarse
particles. Those of course absorb light and create beautiful
sunsets, but are also capable of having quite an impact on human
health,” said Arthur Winer, a professor in the atmospheric
sciences department.
Feverishly working on a number of fires throughout the region,
firefighters are still busy containing some of the largest hot
spots, hopefully clearing up much before an expected return of the
hot, dry winds that sparked the blazes.
“You have to have a watchful eye over the whole area right
now,” Inspector Ron Haralson of the Los Angeles County Fire
Department said.
As of Monday morning 85 percent of the Topanga fire had been
contained.
The Topanga fire was the region’s largest, burning over
24,000 acres. Other blazes also raged in Burbank and further east
in San Bernardino County ““ both of which have been largely
contained.
As fires ravage the land, their subsequent smoke is a mixture of
gases and fine particles that occur when wood and other organic
matter is burned. These microscopic particles are capable of
reaching the deepest parts of the human lung, and can therefore be
the most problematic.
In contrast to some of the larger fly-away pieces of ash many
people complain about, these microscopic particles are actually
what can cause burning eyes, runny noses, bronchitis and the
aggravation of heart and lung diseases.
Since they are heterogeneous, forest fires tend to produce many
little particles as some objects get burned completely and others
don’t, said Suzanne Paulson, a professor in the atmospheric
sciences department.
When these tiniest of particles enter deeply into a
person’s lungs, they stick to the walls and never get cleared
out, Paulson said.
“Over a lifetime these particles seem to contribute to a
lot of health effects,” Paulson said, citing cancer and
respiratory problems as examples of potential health hazards.
Winer has been observing the effects of fires on air quality,
and in a recent study of the 2003 wildfires, he found that the
concentration of coarse particles was as much as five times higher
in the smokiest areas, and that fine articles were an average of
four times higher.
Such increases reveal that the smoke from wildfires can have a
significant impact on air quality and a population’s
health.
“Our concern is that the exposure to these particles can
be very high where smoke is the heaviest,” Winer said.
Data from the most current fires has not yet been released, but
Winer said his impression from what he has witnessed is that less
smoke has been swept into the West Side as compared with the 2003
fires, which burned 742,000 acres.
In fact, with these most recent fires, air quality has stayed
fairly level in and around UCLA.
Yet experts advise that if students see or smell smoke, they
should curtail outdoor activity.
“If you can’t see very far because of smoke or
pollution, its a decent indicator of how healthy the air is,”
Paulson said.
With unhealthy air, minimizing vigorous exercise and staying
indoors in advised, especially for such sensitive groups as
asthmatics, children and the elderly.
The Santa Ana winds, a weather characteristic most Southern
Californians are familiar with, can exacerbate already unhealthful
conditions.
The winds, blowing from the high deserts of Utah and Nevada, get
pushed past a number of passes in California, such as the Cajon
Pass, with the result of dry winds blowing onshore at very high
speeds.
The winds often fan already growing fires and often rekindle the
embers of dying ones. Additionally, the Santa Ana winds spread
smoke particles throughout the valley and Los Angeles basin.
With reports from Bruin wire services.