People who ingested debris from wildfire will probably cough it up in a couple days

Wichita’s air was declared unhealthy Wednesday evening because of massive wildfires that carried soot and debris over the Wichita area.

Dennis Oyieng’o, a pulmonary specialist at Via Christi Hospital St. Francis, said that for the most part, people who were outdoors at that time don’t need to worry.

Oyieng’o said anyone who ingested particles or soot in the air will likely cough out the matter in a few days. But he said it would be helpful to know how much of the wildfire contained synthetic materials, like plastic, which can create toxins when burned.

He said gases from the smoke could be more dangerous than particles in the air, but that most people probably didn’t ingest enough of the gases to sustain damaging effects. He said he would mostly expect minor headaches.

“The only thing that will go into your blood will be gases,” he said. Even then, he said, “your body will try to wash them out over time.”

His advice is to get as far away from the fire as possible and to stay in a basement to avoid rising smoke.

He said face masks prevent inhalation of smoke particles but not gas ingestion.

Oyieng’o said people with asthma and COPD – chronic obstructive pulmonary disease – would be “the patients that are going to get into trouble” with flareups.

Justin Daily, a nurse at Via Christi Hospital St. Francis who has asthma, said he hadn’t used a rescue inhaler in over 10 years until Wednesday.

“I could not catch my breath,” he said.

He said he was in northwest Wichita when his asthma and allergies flared from the smoke plume.

He said the winds and blooming plants amplified the smoke’s effect.

“I was like, ‘Good grief, what’s going on?’ ” he said.

This story was originally published March 24, 2016 at 2:18 PM with the headline "People who ingested debris from wildfire will probably cough it up in a couple days."