BANGOR DAILY NEWS • January 8, 2025
Thick smoke from four wildfires has choked thousands of residents out of areas of southern California since Monday, with windstorms fanning the flames and preventing firefighters on the ground and air from making headway in extinguishing them. So far the winds are carrying the smoke west toward the Pacific Ocean. But air quality specialists in Maine and New England are monitoring the smoke, which can carry thousands of miles via the jet stream or by other winds. Smoke can bring particle pollution that causes coughing, shortness of breath, throat irritation or mild chest pain, especially to vulnerable people, including children, older adults, and Mainers with lung or heart disease.