BOISE, Idaho — As wildfires burn across the Northwest burn across the Northwest, health officials are warning residents about the dangers of smoke exposure and urging people to monitor air quality conditions.
Wesley Pitcock, a pulmonologist who previously fought fires in Salmon, Idaho, for four years, experienced the health impacts firsthand. He developed asthma in his late 20s and early 30s after severe smoke exposure during his firefighting career.
“I myself had pretty extreme acute exposures to smoke and got pretty sick from it several times,” Pitcock said…