'It's awful': how residents escaped toxic air in wildfire California

San Francisco, Los Angeles, Portland. Two states on the US west coast - California and Oregon - recorded the worst air quality in the world this week. Thick fog, a persistent smell of smoke and rain of ash: the sky in San Francisco and the surrounding area turned deep orange for a while, and day turned into night, says "Voice of America".

Photo: Shutterstock

“I was wondering what time of day it was, and then I looked outside and realized it looked like the end of the world,” said Carl-Juan Anderson, an Oakland resident. “I mean, something went wrong, it’s terrible.” And we still have to go to work and inhale all this pollution. This is very unhealthy for us.”

According to American standards, an air quality index above 150 is hazardous to health. In some counties of Oregon and California, it exceeded and still exceeds 500. Therefore, many limited their time on the street, and did not open windows in their houses.

“You breathe - and you inhale this air. It's better not to go into the yard. We were told that elderly people or those with lung problems should not go out,” says Ukrainian Maria Cherepenko, a resident of San Mateo County. “That’s why we’re staying at home.”

Photo: video frame "Voices of America"

Photo: video frame "Voices of America"

The orange and red skies were caused by wildfires raging in the region, namely toxic smoke particles.

“Sunlight has all the colors of the rainbow, and particles in the air can filter the colors,” says meteorologist Jarrett Claiborne. “And these smoke particles absorbed all the colors except orange and red.”

On the subject: California fires: Trump, Biden and Newsom argued about the causes of the disaster

Due to the toxic red air, Ukrainian Mila Nelson, along with her family and pets, was forced to leave her home and farm in the city of Silverstone, near which a fire broke out, and move north to Washington state for a week.

“There was so much smoke, we almost couldn’t breathe,” she said. “We packed up, the animals were placed in a trailer. It was so smoky that we couldn't even see the road. The air pollution index was 600. Our eyes were burning, we wore masks and respirators.”

Photo: video frame "Voices of America"

Photo: video frame "Voices of America"

Residents of Portland, Oregon's largest city, say they haven't seen the sun for several days. Those who had to go out first of all tried to protect the lungs. Scientists have urged the population to buy air purifiers to inhale toxins as little as possible. This is especially harmful for people with respiratory diseases.

“When you inhale smoke from fires, small particles travel through the lungs into the bloodstream and cause damage,” says Mary Prunicki, a scientist at Stanford University's Allergy and Asthma Research Center. “This has increased the number of hospitalizations for people with respiratory problems, such as asthma. But those with cardiac problems are also at risk. The number of cases of heart attacks and arrhythmias has increased.”

On the subject: Fires in the USA: police arrested 4 people on suspicion of arson

Photo: video frame "Voices of America"

Photo: video frame "Voices of America"

Air quality is set to improve significantly next week, at least in Oregon, where rain is expected, meteorologists say. However, firefighters are still trying to put out more than 20 large-scale forest fires.

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