To combat this serious health threat, health officials are advising the population to stay inside and keep doors and windows closed. While this helps to keep some of smoke out, the small particles from the smoke will eventually still make their way indoors, through cracks and gaps in the building.

The following tips will help you to create a "clean zone" in your home during heavy outdoor smoke from wildfires.

1. Close all doors and windows and use duct or masking tape to seal cracks and gasp to the outside. Make sure that vents to the outside are taped off with plastic sheeting.
2. Replace the furnace filter of your central air conditioning system with a high-efficiency filter upgrade. These higher efficiency filters are rated with a MERV number. The higher MERV number the higher the efficiency of the filter and the finer the particles, which are filtered out. Get at a MERV 11 or higher rated filter. These filters cost between $10-20 and are available from most hardware and home improvement stores.
3. After you have upgraded the furnace filter, run your air conditioning system. You can run the fan only, if you are comfortable with the temperature. Constantly cycling the air through you air conditioning system with upgraded air filters will help reduce the amount of smoke particles in your home.
4. Create a safe-room within your house with the help of a room air cleaner with a HEPA filter. This will be the room where particularly sensitive members of your family, with emphysema, allergies or asthma can retreat to. Room air cleaners with HEPA filters are available through internet specialty retailers, such as Zearth.com. Expect to pay about $600 for a good HEPA room air cleaner.
5. Don’t run your bathroom exhaust fans, since this will cause more polluted outside air to be drawn into the home.
6. If you go outside, you may want to wear a harmful dust respirator. Ensure that it is complies with NIOSH standards and has a N95 rating. They are available though home improvement stores. These masks will typically sell for $5-40. If you do not have access to mask you may use a wet cloth to breathe through. Do not use the simple surgical masks, as used by doctors, they are ineffective against small smoke particles.

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