Immune cells that normally protect against inflammation and infections can be altered by wildfire smoke to promote inflammation.

A long list of diseases are associated with inflammation, Wildfire Today reports. And studies have shown that healthy individuals as well as people with pre-existing conditions are affected by the very small PM2.5 particles produced by wildfire smoke.

In late October, Wildfire Today published the following excerpts from a post by Tori Rodriguez, first published in Pulmonology Advisor. It covers the effects of smoke on humans and suggests what could be done to mitigate the potential damage. One idea is for fire and local officials to plan for the effects of smoke as well as the dangers of flames when they’re working on wildfire evacuation guidelines.