/r/Preppers/ - Better safe than sorry

You will be affected by a wildfire someday. Even if you've never seen wildfire smoke in your area in 50 years. Climate change is real, and expected patterns are changing rapidly alongside it.

Get an air purifier before you need one. And get a good one. I got a small NOMA one to hold me over when I woke up to smoke rated as "hazardous" after sleeping with my window open while waiting for a larger one to be delivered - everyone was out trying to get a purifier at the same time - that is NOT the position we want to be in. Avoiding that is why we prep. I was being cheap and stubborn refusing to get one until I suddenly needed one. Now I have 2 subpar ones. Don't be me.

Smoke appears quickly. I went to bed after sitting on my balcony the evening before and enjoying my tea, breathing the fresh air. I woke up at 9am - having went to bed at 10pm the night before - thinking my apartment was on fire. I now intend to get an air quality monitor for inside that will alert me if a change like that happens again for any reason. I'd be in a much better position if my window hadn't been open for 11 hours.

On that note, monitor air quality. Set air quality alerts. I monitor weather, but not air quality. Had I been monitoring air quality - which I really should do given my asthma - I could've prepared for this well in advance.

Monitor the fire situation near you and up-wind from you. This can give you an idea of what may be coming before the air quality warnings appear.

Cooking releases particles into the air, even if nothing is burnt. Rightfully, the focus in prepping is how to cook food - but cooking food in this case is worsening our air quality. Having no-cook food on-hand is essential.

You and your partner/people will have different ideas of what is a necessity and a good reason to go out/stay in - my partner thought going out in person for an air purifier was insanity and we should hunker down, I thought since we had the window open for 11 hours the air quality indoors wasn't much better than outside and an air purifier was essential at all costs. I went out to get one, he was upset about it and worried sick. I thought him going to work was unnecessary and ridiculous, he thought he needed to to pay for the air purifier. If we already had one it could've been avoided.

You need to have a plan for if the power goes out while the smoke is present. Is there a point where you will bug out? When? What level of the AQI (Air Quality Index) will you decide to leave? Where will you go? How will you get there safely? If you cannot leave how will you protect yourself and your family from smoke inhalation?

Keep on top of chores, especially if you are in an apartment. Do laundry when the basket is half full, take out your recycling whenever you get the chance. You want to avoid going out and breathing that in as much as possible

Have non-toxic, no-smell cleaners on-hand. Everything that has any smell, anything that sprays, adds to the pollution in your home.