Setting Up a Clean Air Safe Room in a Wildfire Area

During wildfire season, we get many calls at ClearFlite from people who are worried sick about the health risks from outdoor air heavy-laden with fine particulate from smoke and ash. Even if you are a long way from a wildfire area, winds can carry the residue of the burning for miles. Using your air purifier will help to clean up the air in your home, but if the problem is acute, you may need to supplement the use of an air purifier with a "safe room".

Babies and children are, of course, the first concern, as their respiratory systems may not be as well developed or hardy as adults. This goes for the elderly as well. If you are cleaning up daily by vacuuming and wiping the surfaces to remove the smoke dust, but can still tell the air is heavy with particles, consider setting aside one room as your "safe room". Children and members of the family who might have asthma or who are especially sensitive should sleep in the safe room. Before placing an air purifier in the room, clean it, then use duct tape, vinyl or plastic sheeting, and whatever else you need to seal up the room including windows and vents. When it is cleaned up and sealed, run your air purifier on high as much as possible.

The technology used in an air purifier is of particular importance in a safe room. We advise the use of a quality HEPA air purifier, not one that cleans by generating ozone. In this smaller, closed environment, you don’t want to add to the problem by using a technology that can further stress the lungs.

A HEPA air purifier with activated carbon will remove the fine particulate as well as many of the chemicals which compose the smoke and ash. For some people, the odors and chemicals associated with the smoke and ash are as problematic as the particles, and sometimes even more so. You might as well remove both since it can be done with one machine. It is advisable to keep an eye on the pre-filter during the early days of recovering from the effects of close proximity to a wildfire. The pre-filter in an air purifier will get the larger pieces of dust and if changed or cleaned when needed, will help the HEPA filter last longer. Under normal circumstances, the pre-filter will last many months, but removing the airborne remnants of smoke and ash is a big job even for a quality air purifier.

There are many other things you can do to help get your home back in shape including the use of commercial cleaning companies. Some companies use ozone generating machines to clean, and if that is the case, you don’t want to be present when the cleaning is occurring, and perhaps not for a few days after that. You can also run your air conditioning and put new electrostatic filters on your central heat and air system which will help cut down the dust. For the very fine particulate matter emergent from the smoke and ash, you’ll benefit from the use of a quality HEPA air purifier. For specific guidance on using an existing air purifier in your safe room, or for determining which one you should use, feel free to call us at ClearFlite (www.airpurifiers.com). We have many years of experience in this area.