Here’s how to prevent wildfire smoke from coming into your home, cars

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) - Whether you are at home or in the car, you want to make sure the smoke particles in the air stay outside and away from you.

Hundreds of wildfires, burning in Canada, filling the skies with dangerous smoke across the region and western Mass.

“This is the worst I’ve seen it in a few years a mean you can see it off in the distance, the haze and the smoke and the haze,” said Donna Walsh of Springfield.

Because of this haze, many people are avoiding the outdoors. We spoke with Nathan Lemay, the owner, A Plus HVAC Inc. in Westfield to find out how people can keep the smoke from coming into their houses.

“As long as you’re not opening up the windows and stuff like that to their home it’s really not going to impact their system that much,” said Lemay.

But he said homeowners can also temporarily use a stronger air filter.

“The higher the MERV rating, to keep it simple the more air purification that they’ll get in their homes,” added Lemay. “A MERV 13 will actually take care of smog and smoke in their homes so it would only be for a short fix for some homes their systems aren’t designed to fully take on that restriction on their furnace.”

For those driving around during the air quality alert, KLM Auto Repair owner, Kevin Wright, recommends keeping the windows closed until the smoke clears.

“Using your AC, even you know depending what speed as far as temperature wise what you prefer, but the cold air from AC actually obstructs the particles of the pollution and traps that also if you use the recirculating button, it’ll keep the inside air inside the car instead of having the outside air come inside the car,” explained Wright.

Wright added that if you want to make sure your cabin filter is clear, have it checked out and replaced if needed when you get your car’s next oil change.

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