At the height of wildfire season, thousands of firefighters regularly face a host of dangers on the frontline, including ...

The U.S. Forest Service has fought decades of efforts to better protect its crews — sending them into smoke without masks or ...

The most important stories for you to know today Health Masks for smoke safety Your guide to finding the right mask By Cato Hernández Published September 12, 2024 5:00 AM ...

When smoke and ash settle into your neighborhood, it irritates your eyes, nose, throat, and lungs. That can cause long-term damage, which is why it could be time to start wearing a mask.

The masks, readily available at hardware stores and pharmacies, can filter out fine particles found in smoke that can irritate eyes, nose, throat and lungs, according to public health officials.

Those simple-but-sophisticated masks are intended to block at least 95 percent of the hazardous and tiny particulate matter — known as PM2.5 — that spews from wildfire smoke.