Right now it feels like the state of California is completely on fire. And when you suffer from exercise induced asthma (even controlled) it is not wise to head outside. Even though many people don’t believe it, I believe Fresno County is a beautiful place to live with Kings Canyon National Park in my backyard!! Unfortunately a good portion of our beautiful wilderness is on fire with the Rough Fire.
Scary, huh? This fire has been burning since Friday, July 31st. Currently it is the largest active fire in California and it is only 29% contained with over 2,200 personal currently fighting this horrible fire. Kings Canyon National Park is now closed with continued evacuations of smaller foothill communities and local animal sanctuaries.
With the lack of rain it is a horrible. But how bad is it really and is it possible to really affect me and my dogs? Well lets take a look at a couple of things.
Rough Fire – viewpoint from NASA Modis Terra Satellite; with smoke plume drifting westward toward Fresno. Fire Hot Spots outlined in red
The Decision Not to Exercise Outside
At first I really didn’t think anything when I first saw my truck and thought it was just dust since I washed my truck on Monday, but when I opened the door and climbed in I noticed all this little white stuff floating in the air and then I realized what it was. At that point I decided there was no way I was going to be outside today let alone have Riley running around for agility. Seeing the white ash floating in the air, inside my truck was the only proof I needed that it was not safe for us to be outside. Luckily for me I have long enough hallways in my house for Riley to run sprints and get her ready for the next Coursing Ability Test next weekend.
After seeing this ash I really wanted to know what was in the remnants of the wildfire soot. According to the CDC’s Website,
Smoke from wildfires is a mixture of gases and fine particles from burning trees and other plant materials. Smoke can hurt your eyes, irritate your respiratory system, and worsen chronic heart and lung diseases.
This seems pretty vague, but for me it has caused a low-grade headache for the past 2 days. Since the Shih Tzus are brachycephalic and do not have a long nasal passage, I am limiting their outdoor activity for the next few weeks along with increasing the amount of indoor activities we do.
Have you been affected by wildfires or other weather events in your area? What are you doing to manage your dogs activities during the mean time?
Oh gosh. Scary indeed.
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