How Far Can Wildfire Smoke Travel? | WFCA (2024)

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How Far Can Wildfire Smoke Travel? | WFCA? ›

Carried by prevailing winds, it can cover hundreds, or even thousands, of miles. This means that even if a community is not close to a wildfire, it may still be exposed to its smoke.

Wildfires can blanket the surrounding area with smoke, raising the level of particle pollution to unhealthy concentrations and creating an air quality concern for residents. Because smoke can travel hundreds or thousands of miles, air quality can also be a problem far from the wildfire itself.

Smoke particles can be carried by prevailing winds, sometimes for thousands of miles. Atmospheric factors like wind speed, direction, and stability play a significant role in determining the path and distance of smoke plumes.

Smoke from powerful wildfires can get pushed up into the earth's stratosphere, and from there can travel around the world!

Once a fire begins, it can spread at a rate of up to 14.29 miles per hour (23 kph), consuming everything in its path. As a fire spreads over brush and trees, it may take on a life of its own -- finding ways to keep itself alive, even spawning smaller fires by throwing embers miles away.

Depending on the wind strength and direction, as well as topography, wildfire smoke can easily be smelled 30–40 miles (or more) away.

Wildfires spread at an average of 14.27 miles per hour. However, this can vary hugely depending on a number of factors, such as weather conditions, fuel type, and terrain.

From personal experience—living in Southern California—we can smell fire and even get ashes drifting in the air at well over 100 miles away, as the wind normally carries both the smell and ash.

Smoke particles from fire travel fast, at around 10 metres per second, and can quickly fill a room or data centre hall. Under the microscope, these particles have jagged edges.

When there is a large-scale combustion event like the California wildfires, where does all the smoke go? The smoke rises into the atmosphere where it is blown along with the wind creating a darker skyline for those down wind.

How far away can you smell wildfire smoke? ›

Smoke can travel hundreds of miles, so you can be impacted even if you're not near an active fire. Health problems related to wildfire smoke exposure can be as mild as eye and respiratory tract irritation and as serious as worsening of heart and lung disease, including asthma, and even premature death.

Smoke can stay in the air for days after a wildfire ends. Children and people with asthma, COPD, heart disease, diabetes, chronic kidney disease or those who are pregnant need to be especially careful about breathing wildfire smoke.

Avoid opening any interior doors that feel hot, and stay away from fragile trees and downed power lines. Wear long pants, long-sleeved shirts and gloves made of cotton or wool. Many people who perish in wildfires do so in vehicles.

Wildfire smoke can travel long distances, extending far beyond the immediate fire zone. Carried by prevailing winds, it can cover hundreds, or even thousands, of miles. This means that even if a community is not close to a wildfire, it may still be exposed to its smoke.

152. Fire is spread by convection, conduction and radiation. Convection causes the major proportion of injuries and deaths. When fire starts in a building, the smoke rising from the fire becomes trapped by the ceiling and then spreads in all directions to form an ever-deepening layer over the entire room space.