Central Coast fire blows smoke at Bay Area

Doctors advise anyone in the Bay Area with asthma, emphysema or other lung conditions to stay indoors or at least avoid exercise outside.

Smoke from the 70,615-acre Soberanes Fire, which has been ravaging Central Coast wildlands since July 22, took another surge north this week, and if the particulates it carries get into lungs, they can cause coughing and other complications.

Tiny bits of ash are more than capable of causing hacking and wheezing in people with oversensitive throats.

“Particulate pollution of any kind when it’s high is bad for them and for anyone with lung diseases, but it’s particularly bad when you add in wildfire smoke,” said Dr. John Balmes, a UCSF professor who has studied wildfire smoke effects on communities.

The effects can be very bad, and there is also risk for people with heart disease.

A combination of elevated ozone — which can be exacerbated by smoke — other pollution and temperatures expected to bake into the 90s prompted local air-quality officials to declare a Spare the Air alert for Saturday.