Colorado Wildfires – How you can help!

Photo Credit – Sarah of MooseandTater.com and guest poster for TheTrendGuys.com

Even if you do not live in Colorado, chances are you have heard of the horrific fires that are going on in our state right now. As of Thursday, June 28th, there were 10 active fires burning over a total of 150,000 acres in our state. More than 600 homes have been lost and 3 people have passed away. Needless to say, this is a tragic situation for our community.

Many people have reached out to see how they can help. A fellow blogger, and friend, Sarah of MooseandTater.com, wrote a great post over at TheTrendGuys.com on this very thing. She found fundraisers and resources like Wild Fire Tees where a portion of each item purchased will be donated to help victims of these fires.

Top Photo is a screen capture from Bing
Lower Photo by RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post

We here at ColoradoMoms recommend checking out Help Colorado Now, an organization with a lot of information and resources on who to donate to. Samaritan’s Purse is also helping out in the High Park Fire area.

Some reputable agencies that are taking donations are as follows:

The Children’s Hospital of Colorado has some great information as well. Here are a few tips and links to help your family.

How to Deal with Wildfire Smoke Inhalation

What makes wildfire smoke a health hazard?

Wildfire smoke is different than a smoke you would inhale from a close fire because of the particulate matter in the smoke. We see most health effects in patients with a predisposition to respiratory problems, in the young and in the elderly.

Of those that have respiratory problems, patients with asthma are most common, and can have more symptoms if exposed to the particulate matter. In this case, they need to use their rescue medications more frequently.

Wildfire smoke can persist for days or even months, depending on the extent of the wildfire. Although the air may look clear, it may have particulate matter that can make asthma worse or trigger an attack.

What is the main concern for patients with respiratory problems?

Most of the time we worry about prolonged asthma attacks. During wildfires, these attacks can last longer than they normally would. If someone is having an asthma attack due to high smoke exposure from the outdoors, we recommend that they try to stay indoors. If they must go outdoors, they should use their rescue medications prior to going outside. If outdoors, they should try to limit the amount of vigorous activity.

What are some symptoms parents can look for?

• Decreased activity level
• Increased coughing
• Wheezing and/or audible breathing sounds
• Change in color or pallor of skin
• Easily fatigued
• Breathing hard

To see if a child is having problems breathing, observe if they breathing fast; in smaller children, look for their ribs sucking in (called retraction). For more information click here.

Help Your Children Stay Calm During a Natural Disaster is another great article that can help explain the situation for children too young to comprehend the full scope of what is going on.

Our continued thoughts and prayers are with those affected by these fires. If you know of  a family in need, or local organization organizing a food or donation drive, please include the links in our comments section.