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California’s smoke seasons
NIFC's September 2026 outlook notes northern California typically sees eight significant fires in September, four in October, one in November and less than one in December, with above-normal potential across the northeastern part of the state in September and offshore wind events the key wildcard west of the Cascade–Sierra crest. [1] CAL FIRE's 2020 archive records 8,648 wildfires, 4,304,379 acres burned, 33 fatalities and 11,116 structures destroyed, the largest season in California's modern record; the August Complex alone burned 1,032,648 acres across seven counties and was called the first "gigafire." [2] CAL FIRE's 2024 archive counts 8,110 wildfires, 1,077,711 acres burned, 1,837 structures destroyed and one civilian death; the Park Fire, ignited July 24, 2024 in Chico's Bidwell Park, burned 429,603 acres in Butte and Tehama counties and destroyed 709 structures. [3]
The Camp Fire started November 8, 2018 near Pulga in Butte County, burned 153,336 acres, destroyed 18,804 structures and damaged 754 more, and killed 85 civilians; CAL FIRE attributes the cause to power lines. [4] The Tubbs Fire (Central LNU Complex) started October 8, 2017 near Calistoga, burned 36,807 acres in Napa and Sonoma counties, destroyed 5,636 structures, damaged 317 and killed 22 civilians. [5] Smoke does not respect the fire perimeter: in California the houses that never saw a flame spend days inside the plume, and their air is the subject of this page.
Air quality in California: reading the numbers
California’s air-quality agency is the California Air Resources Board. A CARB analysis released July 12, 2021 found lead in Chico's air reached 50 times the site's average on November 10, 2018 during the Camp Fire, with elevated lead, zinc, calcium, iron and manganese detected more than 150 miles away in Sacramento, San Jose and Modesto, and peak PM2.5 across much of California more than 300 percent above 2010–2017 averages for November 8–22. [6] CARB estimates 2020 California wildfires burned about 4.2 million acres and emitted 1,181 thousand short tons of PM2.5 and 106.7 million metric tons of CO2, with the August Complex (1,032,700 acres) the largest single fire event ever recorded in the state. [7] CARB's wildfire emissions page reports 2024 wildfires burned 1.02 million acres and emitted 308 thousand short tons of PM2.5, above the 2000–2024 annual average of 289 thousand short tons. [8]
Nationally, the AQI [9] turns PM2.5 concentrations into six colour bands; from 101 (orange) sensitive groups are affected, from 151 (red) everyone is, and the AirNow wildfire map [10] shows the California monitors and the smoke plume together. What the outdoor number does not tell you is the indoor number, and that is where the health question actually lives.
What the smoke does, and to whom, in California
Wildfire smoke is mostly fine particulate — PM2.5 — with carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds and, when structures burn, the metals and plastics of a California neighbourhood. The particles are small enough to reach the deep lung and the bloodstream. CDPH's Get Smoke Ready page advises using the 0–500 Air Quality Index to decide protective steps, wearing a well-fitting NIOSH-approved N95 if you must go outside in smoke, and notes KN95s provide less protection while surgical and cloth masks offer none against wildfire smoke. [11] AB 836 (Wicks, Chapter 393, Statutes of 2019) funded a $5,000,000 Wildfire Smoke Clean Air Centers pilot administered by CARB, allocating $3,000,000 to the Bay Area air district, $750,000 to San Joaquin Valley, $250,000 to South Coast and $1,000,000 through CAPCOA for other districts, to upgrade ventilation to MERV 13 or better and supply portable air cleaners. [12]
- Children in California breathe more air per pound of body weight and their airways are still developing.
- Older adults and anyone with heart or lung disease, including asthma and COPD, feel California’s smoke at lower concentrations.
- Pregnant people and their pregnancies; outdoor workers in California; people who cannot afford to close the windows in the heat.
Symptoms run from stinging eyes and a scratchy throat through coughing and wheezing to chest tightness and shortness of breath. A California household that notices the last two — or anyone with a heart condition who feels palpitations or unusual fatigue during a smoke episode — should call a clinician; our after-exposure guide covers the first days.
Keeping it out of a California house
The EPA’s guidance on wildfires and indoor air quality [13] is the standard playbook: close windows and doors, set the HVAC to recirculate and fit the highest-MERV filter the system tolerates, run a HEPA air cleaner in one room and make that the clean room, do not add to indoor particles (no candles, no frying, no vacuuming without a HEPA vacuum), and open up to ventilate when the outdoor AQI drops. In California’s heat that trade-off is real, which is why a clean room with a portable air cleaner is the practical unit of protection rather than the whole house.
When the outdoor air clears, the California house may not have. Residue that settled on surfaces and in the ductwork keeps releasing what it absorbed, and the smell that returns on warm days is that residue. That is the point at which a health question becomes a measurement question — and then a claim question.
After the smoke: test, then claim
If your California home smells of smoke, two kinds of professional are relevant and it helps to know which you are calling. Certified Industrial Hygienists (CIHs) and environmental consultants test: they measure what settled on the surfaces and what is still in the air, and they put a number on it. Fire damage restoration technicians — disaster restoration specialists — clean: soot comes off with chemical sponges and HEPA vacuums, odor is treated with air scrubbers and thermal fogging, and any firefighting water is dried out before it becomes a mold problem.
Testing before cleaning is the rule for California homes that sat in a plume: United Policyholders [14] explains that smoke and ash damage to a standing home is covered and that independent CIH testing is what makes the claim specific to your house; the hygienist’s report is also what tells you whether the children’s bedroom is safe to sleep in tonight. The health-first sequence on this site walks through the first week; the California claim guide on our sister site handles the paperwork.
Embers and heat, not smoke, damage roofs — but a California house inside a wildfire perimeter may have had both, and the attic is where residue persists longest. Smoke odor in decking and attic insulation [15] explains why the attic is a separate inspection; the picker below finds a California roofer for it.