It was an ordinary day at the dentist. I asked my dental hygienist if she had favorite spots to visit during the scorching Redding summers. She noted that she loved the coast but there was a fire West of Redding which may have closed the highway route. Oh yes… A wildfire. An unfortunate event but not atypical for Redding. She was in a hurry and not too gentle on my gums. I went on my way unphased by the familiar smoke smell which seemed to come every year.
The next night, panic set in. The Carr fire exploded beyond what any one of us could have imagined. Ash fell from the angry orange sky. Being a heavy sleeper with two precious children to protect, I set my alarm clock to wake me every few hours in case we needed to suddenly evacuate. I didn’t want to take any chances. The interrupted sleep led to one grouchy mommy so we decided to voluntarily evacuate for safety, peace of mind and rest. We loaded our car with important documents, hard drives, electronic gear, enough clothes to last a week, anything we wanted to save from burning, and made our trip South to visit my parents.
In SoCal, we followed the news, prayed and wondered if and when to return. Our house was still standing and the fire had been sufficiently contained. However, our next concern was the extremely toxic air quality. Purple air was reporting hazardous conditions. Instagram photos had everyone wearing masks.
School in Redding was starting in the fall for myself and my preschooler. We had to return but we wanted to do it wisely. Would air purifiers be sufficient to maintain clean air in our house? My husband found a small handheld air tracker so we could accurately determine the air quality. And we took the 10 hour trip back North.
Here is what we discovered works:
- Buy this air tracker. This will be your best friend. You will marvel or freak out at what it reveals about your air quality.
- Buy an air purifier. Or make your own purifier by taping a HEPA filter onto a box fan.
- Use double-wide painter’s tape to seal your leaky vents and/or doors if necessary.
- Upgrade your car air filter to HEPA.
- Add air-purifying plants to your house.
- Wear N-95 masks when you are outside.