Kids and wildfire exposure: An ultimate guide

Wildfires bring more than just flames – they can pose serious health risks to children, from smoke to fire and strong winds. In this guide, we’ll show you how to protect your little ones and reduce their wildfire exposure to these dangers. Stay informed and keep them safe during wildfire season.

How can parents protect children from the health effects of wildfires?

During a wildfire, the health effects of wildfires pose significant risks to children, including fire, smoke and high winds. These can lead to symptoms such as the following, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics:

• Chest tightness or pain
• Shortness of breath
• Wheezing
• Coughing
• Burning or stinging of the nose, throat and eyes
• Dizziness or lightheadedness

How can parents protect kids from the harmful health effects of fire and smoke?

• Evacuate the area if recommended by authorities.
• Prepare an emergency kit for your family (scroll below to view a list of recommended items you can include in an evacuation list).
• Stay indoors and minimize smoke exposure. Close all windows and doors.
• When driving, keep windows and vents closed. Turn the air-conditioning to re-circulate.
• Avoid sports practices, games or extreme exertion if the air quality is poor.
• Do NOT give your child a mask to filter contaminants, since masks do not work when not fitted correctly. Smaller sized masks may appear to fit a child’s face, but no manufacturers recommend their use for children.
• Increase water intake to avoid dehydration, which can happen quicker when breathing is compromised.
• Continue to minimize exposure to other sources of air pollutants such as cigarette smoke, smoke from wood or coal-burning furnaces, or smoke from a barbecue, as the combined effect of these smoke sources can have a greater impact on your child and family than the fire alone.
• Children with chronic respiratory problems, such as asthma, are at increased risk. Children at increased risk should remain in a clean-air environment, and be kept indoors until air quality improves. Administer any protective medications to your child as directed by your provider. They should be monitored closely for signs or symptoms of harmful health effects. If they are showing these symptoms and their usual medications cannot bring them under control, a visit with t heir healthcare provider should be completed. This can be a telehealth appointment conducted from home, or an in-person visit at your doctor’s office. 

Parents should be mindful of the signs and symptoms of respiratory distress, says Dr. Charles Golden, vice president and executive medical director of CHOC’s Primary Care Network.

What are the warning signs of respiratory distress?

• Rapid breathing
• Use of accessory muscles (the muscles in the chest, rib cage and neck) become noticeable with each breath
• Fatigue, lack of energy, and increase in sleepiness in addition to the above symptoms
• Flaring of the nostrils or grunting with each breath
• Bluish/purplish discoloration of the lips, tongue and inner mouth in combination with the above symptom

If your child has these symptoms, seek urgent medical attention despite the risks of travel and outdoor air exposure. If these symptoms are severe, call 911.

Prepare an emergency kit for your family

In addition to the safety measures above, it’s important for families to be ready in case an evaluation or evacuation is required. Having an emergency kit prepared for everyone ensures that you are equipped to handle unexpected situations, particularly in the event that you need to seek medical attention or evacuate quickly.

Here’s a list of essential items to include in your family’s emergency kit, as recommended by CHOC expert Chris Riccardi:

Essentials for everyone:

1. Documents:
   • Identification (passports, IDs, birth certificates)
   • Insurance policies (home, health, car)
   • Medical records and prescriptions
   • Emergency contacts list (hard copy)
   • Copies of important documents in a waterproof folder
   • Store records on a flash drive or external hard drive that can be taken with you
2. Food and water:
   • Non-perishable foods (granola bars, canned food with pull-tab lids, etc.)
   • Baby formula (powder or ready-to-feed) and baby food pouches
   • Water: At least 1 gallon per person per day (1/2 gallon for consumption/ 1/2 gallon for hygiene)
   • Bottles for formula or water
   • Manual can opener
3. Clothing and blankets:
   • Weather-appropriate clothes for each family member (layers for varying conditions)
   • Infant onesies, sleepers, and socks
   • Sturdy shoes and hats
   • Warm blankets and a portable baby blanket or swaddle
4. First aid and hygiene:
   • First aid kit
   • Medications for each family member
   • Diapers and wipes for the infant
   • Pull-ups or spare underwear for the young child
   • Feminine hygiene products
   • Soap, hand sanitizer, and tissues
   • Toothbrushes, toothpaste, and a hairbrush
   • Plastic bags for waste disposal
5. Lighting and communication:
   • Flashlights and extra batteries
   • Battery-powered or hand-crank radio
   • Fully charged power banks for devices
   • Phone chargers and adapters
   • Glow sticks
   • Your car will/can serve as a power supply to charge phones/devices
6. Safety and tools:
   • Multi-tool or Swiss Army knife
   • Duct tape
   • Matches or a lighter in a waterproof container
   • Dust masks or N95 masks for smoke protection
   • Emergency whistle
7. Cash and supplies:
   • Small denominations of cash and coins
   • Local maps

Infant-specific needs:

1. Feeding supplies:
   • Extra bottles and nipples
   • Formula dispenser (if needed)
2. Comfort items:
   • Pacifiers
   • Favorite toy or lovey
   • Small teether or rattle
3. Carrying and resting:
   • Baby carrier or sling
   • Portable crib or bassinet (if possible)

Young child-specific needs:

1. Entertainment and comfort:
   • Small toys, books, or activity kits
   • Comfort item like a stuffed animal or blanket
2. Snacks:
   • Easy-to-eat, non-messy snacks like crackers, pouches, or dried fruit
3. Clothing and shoes:
   • Extra outfits and sturdy shoes

Fire-specific supplies:

1. Fire-resistant blankets or jackets
2. Eye drops for irritation
3. Maps with evacuation routes
4. Smoke-filtering masks for children (check sizing)

Optional but useful:

1. Pet supplies (if applicable):
   • Pet food, bowls, leash, and carrier
2. Comfort and sleep:
   • Travel pillows or inflatable mattress
   • Earplugs (if sensitive to noise)

Keep these items in a portable, easily accessible bag or backpack. Regularly update and check the kit to ensure food, batteries, and other items are fresh and functional.

Printable checklist: Disaster Preparedness Emergency Packing Checklist for Families

Tips from CHOC experts to help parents and caregivers support kids during fires

With powerful winds and an increased number of wildfires in California, it’s understandable that children may experience emotional distress, even if their home or community is not physically affected.

Here are 10 tips from The National Child Traumatic Stress Network and CHOC experts that can help parents and caregivers support kids in coping with the growing concern surrounding wildfires:

1. Know these responses are common

Children may feel additional fear and anxiety during a wildfire – and even long after it is extinguished. Separation anxiety is common, and children may show changes in appetite, school performance and mood. Older children may show an increased likelihood for self-harm and younger children may exhibit regressive behaviors, or showing behaviors they used when they were younger.

2. Limit media exposure

Monitor children’s media consumption – on television, newspapers, radio and social media. Images of burning buildings or the aftermath of a wildfire could be frightening to children, as could reading or hearing accounts of the fire. Learn more about the importance of monitoring your child’s news and social media intake.

3. Monitor adult chatter

Remember that children can overhear conversations between their parents and other adults. They might also misinterpret this information or be afraid of something they don’t understand. Keep conversations in front of children light and save heavier discussions for private.

3. Encourage open communication

Children may have questions about the fires – and they may ask them multiple times. Encourage kids of all ages to ask these questions as many times as they need. Use this time to address any misinformation your child might have picked up at school or elsewhere.

4. Provide age-appropriate information

Limit the information that you provide to your child to the questions that they ask you, to avoid overwhelming them with information that they may not already have been exposed to. Keep in mind their age and emotional maturity when answering.

5. Remind your children that they are safe

Share your family’s plan to keep safe. Show them where your smoke detectors are located; teach and remind them what to do if those alarms go off. Also, remind children that firefighters and other emergency personnel are working hard to protect them and their homes.

6. Maintain routines and expectations

Routines are essential to helping children feel safe and secure. Stick to regular schedules, mealtimes and bedtimes as best as possible and ensure children get enough rest, nutrition and exercise. Try to stick to family rules around practicing good behavior, respect and kindness, as well as other family norms, to keep a sense of normalcy.

7. Increase your patience

Even with routines and rules still in place, practicing flexibility and patience will be key. Distressed or distracted children might need help or additional reminders about chores and responsibilities.

8. Provide additional support at bedtime

Fears and anxiety could be heightened at bedtime. To avoid your child developing separation anxiety, try to spend more time with them doing light, peaceful activities like reading a book or singing songs. If a child needs to sleep with their caregiver, it’s OK. Just be clear that typical sleeping arrangements will resume in the future.

9. Model behavior

A parent’s crisis response will significantly influence how children respond. Remember to take care of yourself as well by eating well, sleeping well and exercising. Support your partner or other adults in your life, and, if possible, delay making any hasty decisions during a stressful time.

10. Read a book

Your child may feel more comfortable opening up about their feelings over the fire by reading a book where the characters experience a fire as well. “Trinka and Sam: The Big Fire” is available for download in English and also available for download in Spanish from The National Child Traumatic Stress Network.

More tips to protect your kids from harmful air and reduce wildfire risks

In California, wildfires are becoming increasingly large and more severe. In part, climate change is to blame. However, no matter what causes them, wildfires can be scary, and parents may have questions about how to protect their kids.

Dr. Marnie Granados, a CHOC pediatrician and member of CHOC’s sustainability task force, discusses how you can protect your child from breathing harmful air and what we can all do, as a community, to decrease the risk of wildfires. 

How can parents protect their kids from breathing bad air caused by wildfires or air pollution?

When it comes to poor air quality, children are more vulnerable because they tend to spend more time outdoors playing or doing sports, says Dr. Granados. Additionally, their lungs aren’t as strong as adults, and they rely on parents or caregivers to keep them safe.

A child who is playing outside may not understand that they are having trouble breathing or that the air quality is bad.

There are some simple things that parents and caregivers can do to protect their kids during times of bad air quality, says Dr. Granados, like:

• If there is a wildfire in your area, check the air quality in your neighborhood on airnow.gov.
• If the air quality is poor, stay indoors as much as possible. If there is a wildfire nearby, close all windows and doors. When possible, set your air conditioner to recirculate. 
• If your family has central heating or air, purchase an air filter that is rated MERV 13 or higher. This can help catch air pollutants at home.
• Avoid activities that may worsen indoor air quality like smoking, using commercial cleaning products or spraying artificial fragrances.
• If you have family members with chronic medical conditions, consider purchasing a high-efficiency particulate air filter (HEPA) filter to improve indoor air quality.

Are there any considerations for kids prone to respiratory issues during wildfires?

The lungs of infants, especially premature infants, aren’t as strong as older children or adults. This makes them more vulnerable to poor air quality.

Kids with asthma, or another chronic respiratory condition, should be extra careful during wildfires or periods of bad air quality.

Are wildfires getting worse in the U.S.?

In California, we know that wildfires are becoming larger and more severe, says Dr. Granados. The three main contributing factors to this include:

• Climate change: Warmer weather conditions and the lack of rain increase the risk of large, extreme wildfires. The weather can contribute to an abundance of dry vegetation, which will burn faster and more easily.
• An increase in homes built on the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI): The WUI refers to the zone where human development and unoccupied land meet. For example, this refers to home communities on the base of hills or close to grass or vegetation. Home building on the WUI can eliminate precious, undeveloped land while increasing the risk of accidental fires (for example, due to electrical systems which lead to wildfires and the destruction of homes).   
• Forest management: About 100 years ago, the United States created a policy to suppress fires. Because of this, there is not enough controlled burning allowed to maintain all the flammable dry fuel (grass, shrubs and bushes) that we have in the U.S.

Are wildfires causing worsening air pollution or air quality in the U.S.?

When there is a wildfire event in California, or anywhere, it’s going to impact the air quality of surrounding communities. Wildfire smoke contains many harmful compounds, says Dr. Granados.  

One compound that can specifically impact human health is particulate matter (PM). The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) describes particulate matter (also called particle pollution) as the mixture of solid particulates and liquid droplets found in the air.

The burning of wood – like during a wildfire – can worsen air pollution and cause particulate matter to enter the air, causing air pollution.

PM10 particles refer to inhalable particulates that can be seen with the human eye – like small pieces of dust, dirt or soot floating in the air. However, smaller particulates which can’t be seen without a microscope – called PM2.5 particles – can be breathed in deeper into the lungs, causing damage to them.

PM 2.5 particles can be especially dangerous for kids because the small particulates can cause inflammation and damage to the lungs. Children who have been diagnosed with a chronic lung disease, such as asthma, could experience a worsening of their symptoms when exposed to higher levels of PM2.5.

Wildfire smoke can also contain volatile organic compounds like formaldehyde that can irritate your eyes, nose and airways.

What can we do to help our air quality in the U.S.?

To help decrease the risk of wildfires and to improve air quality, in general, Dr. Granados suggests that families:

• Try to drive their cars less. Carpool or try to consolidate errands or work into a few days, rather than spreading them out throughout the week.
• Try to fly less. Consider more local trips in your state or region to reduce the amount of commercial airline tickets that you buy.
• Think about how you consume goods. The further away a product is made from you, the longer it must travel to get to you. Because of this, that product will burn more fossil fuels during its travel time. Consider purchasing more local items, such as made-in-America goods or produce from farmer’s markets.
• Consider shipping less. With more businesses offering inexpensive, fast shipping, it can be tempting to order everything you need from the comfort of your home. Consider consolidating your orders so they are shipped together or picking up the items you need from somewhere local. Measure your carbon footprint. As a family, consider learning more about how many resources you use with an environmental footprint calculator. Then, discuss some simple changes you can make as a family to reduce your environmental impact.
• Decide not to purchase a home located at the Wildland Urban Interface, if possible. Consider the risk associated with buying a home at the WUI and weigh your options as a family.

Is there anything else you want parents to know about air pollution and wildfires?

For families who do live on the WUI, make sure to come up with an evacuation safety plan, says Dr. Granados. In the event of needing to evacuate due a wildfire, have a list of important items that you can grab quickly before leaving. Don’t forget any medications you may need for family members. 

Although the threat of wildfires can be scary, it’s important to remember that there are things we can do – both as families and communities — to help decrease the risk, says Dr. Granados. By considering simple changes to improve air quality and reduce our carbon footprint, we can help ensure that our future generations will be able to enjoy a beautiful Earth and have clean air to breathe.

For more health and wellness resources from the pediatric experts at CHOC, sign up for the Kids Health newsletter.

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