Wildfire smoke
Smoke is mostly particles small enough to reach deep into the lungs. Here is how to check the air and decide about outdoor play.
Draft — not yet medically reviewed
Time-sensitive
If this is happening now
This information is not a substitute for talking with your child's doctor.
Call us at 1-877-800-5554 for a time-sensitive question.
Here in our region
Smoke does not stay where the fire is — much of what settles over our region drifts in from fires in other states. There is also a second effect worth knowing about: smoke raises ozone as well as particles. Researchers measured wildfire smoke adding roughly 8 parts per billion of ozone along Colorado's Front Range in July 2021. So on a smoky summer day the air can be working against a child's lungs in two ways at once, and EPA has treated smoke as a genuine factor in Utah's Northern Wasatch Front air quality as well.
The short version
- Fine particulate matter is the primary concern. Children enter the AQI sensitive-group tier at 101–150; the Moderate band's caution addresses "unusually sensitive people," not children as a class.
- Continue controller therapy as prescribed. No authoritative source recommends pre-emptive escalation of inhaled corticosteroids ahead of a smoke event, and no AQI-indexed medication thresholds exist anywhere. Guidance here is absent rather than permissive — worth knowing before you improvise one.
- Counselling on indoor filtration is the highest-yield intervention available to you.
Activity guidance by AQI
| AQI | Category | For children and people with asthma |
|---|---|---|
| 0–50 | Good | No restriction |
| 51–100 | Moderate | Unusually sensitive individuals may wish to reduce prolonged exertion |
| 101–150 | Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups | Children and those with asthma should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors |
| 151–200 | Unhealthy | Sensitive groups avoid prolonged or heavy exertion; move activity indoors |
| 201–300 | Very Unhealthy | Sensitive groups avoid all physical activity outdoors |
| 301+ | Hazardous | Everyone remains indoors and keeps activity light |
Review the asthma action plan, confirm reliever access at school, and address filtration at home.
Where the evidence is thinner than expected
- Asthma exacerbation specifically is not an established quantified finding. Pooled relative risk sits at 1.11 (95% CI 0.93–1.32), crossing 1.0, and a November 2025 systematic review found no significant asthma-specific association. Cough and wheeze are well supported. This matters when you are asked how certain we are.
- No medication thresholds exist by AQI. If you want a rule, you will have to make it up — so say so.
- Mask guidance diverges between EPA's own pages. Quote whichever source you rely on, by name.
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What is actually in smoke
The part that matters most is fine particles — small enough to travel deep into the lungs and into the bloodstream. Children breathe more air for their body size than adults, spend more time outdoors, and are more likely to be running around while they do it.
Who needs more care on smoky days
Children are counted as a sensitive group once the Air Quality Index reaches 101. Take extra care with:
- Children with asthma or any lung condition
- Infants
- Anyone who is pregnant
- Children who are outside for sport or work
Signs smoke is bothering your child
Coughing, a scratchy throat, chest tightness, wheezing, and irritated eyes or nose. In a child with asthma, you may see them reaching for a reliever inhaler more often than usual.
What actually helps
- Check the air before you decide. AirNow.gov gives you the AQI for your area, and it changes through the day.
- Close windows when smoke is in. It feels wrong on a hot day. Do it anyway.
- Run a HEPA air cleaner in the room where your child sleeps. If you do not have one, EPA has instructions for a do-it-yourself box-fan filter that works well for a fraction of the cost.
- Upgrade your furnace or HVAC filter to a higher-rated one and run the fan.
- Make one clean room — one space you keep closed up and filtered — rather than trying to treat the whole house.
- Keep asthma controller medicines going exactly as prescribed. Do not change doses on your own.
Get help right away if
Your child is struggling to breathe, cannot speak in full sentences, or a reliever inhaler is not working. Call 911 or go to the nearest emergency department.
For questions about a smoke event, filtration, or your child's asthma plan, ask us.
“Should my child wear an N95?”
This is the question we get most, and the honest answer is that fit is the limiting factor, not whether the material works. N95 respirators are not made in children's sizes, and a respirator that leaks around the edges does much less than people assume.
EPA's own guidance for children says not to rely on masks as your main protection. EPA's smoke training materials allow that a child who can wear one correctly may do so. No respirator for a child under two. Cloth and surgical masks do not filter smoke particles.
The things that reliably work are staying indoors when the air is bad and filtering the air inside.