Wildfires | South Carolina Department of Environmental Services

Smoke from wildfires can irritate the eyes and respiratory system, as well as aggravate or exacerbate chronic heart and lung diseases. This can be a nuisance for healthy people, but it can also make some pre-existing health conditions, like asthma and some heart or lung conditions, worse. Health and visibility impacts from smoke could be experienced in areas impacted by wildfires.

Whether from a campfire, wildfire, or burning landfill or pile of debris, all smoke is made up of very small partially-burned particles and chemicals that form during burning. What makes up the particles and accompanying gases depends on the material burning.

It’s never good to breathe smoke of any kind for extended periods of time. Most people should not have long-term health problems caused by breathing smoke for short periods of time, but particles in the air from fires may cause short-term nausea, headaches, and/or irritation to the throat and eyes. If symptoms are caused by smoke, they should improve when a person leaves the smoky area. Exposure to smoke may aggravate some pre-existing lung or heart-related health conditions.

When an area is impacted by wildfire smoke, SCDES recommends:

individuals with respiratory health issues limit time spent outdoors to avoid the smoke
keep windows and doors closed
if running an air conditioner, keep the fresh-air intake closed and the filter clean to prevent outdoor smoke from getting inside