Being Macho and not wearing a mask in heavy smoke might just put you in the hospital

Because I knew I personally didn't do well in a lot of smoke growing up I never worked as a summer Firefighter like many of my friends did for the U.S. Forest Service. I have never regretted doing this when I was young, especially after one of my friends had a rock set loose on a hill during a fire that came down fast and another firefighter yelled for him to get out of the way but he crouched and put his hand on his helmet and the rock struck his hand on the helmet and broke his hand in many places and made him unconscious for several days before he woke up in the hospital with a broken hand and a sore neck. Without his fire helmet on he would have died. That would have been the end of him in this situation.

The point I'm trying to make here is that I have spent a lot of time in places like Mt. Shasta, Los Angeles, San Diego and near San Francisco where we have had really bad fires and the air was unfit to breathe for anyone and I have mostly lived here all over California since 1952 when I was 4 years old. And when particulate levels get to where they have been on the East Coast from 400 fires in Canada the particulates can be breathed in without a mask on and you can get blood clotting and strokes or worse in your body. Also, when you get elevated smoke particulates like now on the East coast cardiac heart events increase by 70%.(especially for those outside not wearing a mask.

So, wearing a mask might save your life or the life of a loved one. Being macho in regard to smoke or fires is how people get sick and sometimes die from Smoke inhalation.

We have a lot of experience here in California with both smoke from fires and from earthquakes which are the biggest problems here in California.

So, hearing what a Californian is saying about smoke on the East coast might just save your life or the life of a loved one. Being macho in heavy smoke might put you or a loved one in the hospital for not wearing a mask these days.