Particulate matter in wildfire smoke can cause symptoms ranging from eye and throat irritation to long-term illness like dementia.
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As many B.C. residents return home after recent wildfires tore through their communities, experts urge caution because smoke damage, ash, spoiled food and crops, chemical or gas leak, as well as unclean drinking water all pose serious health risks.
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The safety alert comes as much of the province remains under a blanket of smoke with 23 air-quality warnings in effect. Health officials are sounding the alarm on long-term illnesses such as migraines, lung and heart conditions, and dementia.
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Even if a house has not sustained fire damage, there is a lot to be done to minimize health hazards, said Ryan Huff, an environmental health knowledge scientist at the National Collaborating Centres for Public Health.
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“One of the first things you should do when you go inside your house is turn off your circuit breaker before you can assess the rest of the house because all the electrical systems are coated in plastic, which under extreme heat can melt,” he said.
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Other hazards include particles in carpets and in cupboards, fire retardant on food growing in the garden or on children’s toys left outside, heavily damaged air filtration systems, and lingering gases.
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“Particles and gases can deposit on surfaces, and the gases can actually sink into a lot of different things in the house. More than just carpets, they can sink into walls, porous stone, ceramics, all sorts of different things, and the problem with that is if you don’t clean that up properly, it can actually act as a pollutant reservoir, releasing these pollutants back into your home over time,” he said, noting one study found residents had lung issues related to wildfire particles up to a year after they returned home.
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Huff recommends hiring professional remediation crews to clean up. For those who plan to clean themselves, he recommends wearing a mask and protective clothing, and warned against using cleaners with bleach, which can react with some chemicals in smoke.
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The province says the 2026 wildfire season will likely be another “benchmark year” when it comes to smoke following 2017, 2018, 2021 and 2023, considered the worst years for poor air quality.
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For example, the Okanagan so far has experienced 29 days with air-quality warnings in effect, with still weeks to go in the wildfire season. This compares with 2021 (47 days), 2017 (37 days), and 2018 (32 days), according to provincial data.
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Wildfire smoke contains fine particulate matter, or PM2.5, and toxic gases that penetrate deep into a person’s lungs and bloodstream, according to Health Canada. It causes symptoms ranging from eye and throat irritation to severe breathing trouble, heart attacks, cognitive decline and asthma attacks.
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The federal agency said in a report published earlier this summer that smoke has also caused a spike in hospital visits for migraines.
