"Smoke from the California fires is stretching all the way to the state of MICHIGAN!" Apologies to you Michiganders, my home state. SORRY?

You are in my prayers m'dear. I just cannot imagine how you are coping with it. How long has it been since you could open your windows? Weeks right and no end in sight? I know all things come to end. This thing is lingering far too long and damaging permanently far too many. Thank you for your reply Shuhak! :)

With the AQI finally below 150 (it's currently 135), many of my neighbors have opened their windows.  It gets really stuffy inside with everything closed up.   Even so, I’m not opening my house up.  The haze isn’t nearly as thick as it was (I can actually see my next-door neighbors), but it’s still there.  The sky is still a dirty white and the sun remains faint.  The weather system off the coast is helping to push some of the smoke out, but with many of the fires still burning, more smoke is being produced than can be removed.
It’s been smoky here since August 17 - and there’s really no end in sight.  The air is forecast to slowly improve as the month wears on, but unless we get rain (unlikely) or all the fires are extinguished (and no new ones start), the smoke may linger into October.

I think air can be very unhealthy even if you don't "SEE" it can't it Shuhak? My gosh since August 17? Oh my gosh. I'm with you. Don't open the windows. So you said you have asthma. How are you doing with it? Have you had any attacks? My son was married to a gal who had asthma and his best friend was also married to a gal with asthma and both of them at times had to take their wives to the Emergency Room. They could never go anywhere without their inhalers and certain things triggered attacks. If that isn't living life on the edge I don't know what is. I hope we get huge rainstorms over our entire state. We have fires down here too and our air isn't that great but nothing like you have had to endure. Thank you for your informative reply. Your evacuation orders are no longer in place right?

Air can always be unhealthy (ozone and such) and one cant see it.
It was a little better early this morning (very lite haze with dense white/gray skies), but that was short lives as heavy haze settled in around 9:30.
I've had a few asthma attacks, but my inhaler handled them.
We want light soaking rains, not heavy downpours.  Heavy rains will wash the burn scars into creeks/rivers and any houses that are left. 
All evacuation orders have been lifted.

I'm glad. I've never been where I was under imminent orders to leave. It must be horrendous. What do you take? What do you set aside? WHERE DO YOU GO? That's like living with the SWORD OF DAMOCLES hanging over your head 24/7. Has your inhaler ever failed you Shuhak? My short-lived experience with what I thought was asthma was terrifying. I never got the hang of it. Working an inhaler doesn't take genius but whatever it takes I don't have it. I never got the rhythm of it. No coordination? I dunno but by the time I'd get it going I was already beyond needing it. Thank you for your reply. Our state is still on fire as are other states. When will it end? This post was edited by RosieG at September 17, 2020 12:41 PM MDT

So far, my inhaler hasn't failed me.
Using an inhaler takes practice.  1. Blow out all air from lungs. 2. Inhale deeply while pressing down on inhaler.  3. Hold breath for 5-10 seconds.  4. Exhale.  5. Sit down as the head rush is intense!  (at least for me).  Then in 5 to 10 minutes, you can breathe again.

What one takes during an evaluation depends on how much time one has.  If its "get out NOW", you just run like heck.  If you have a few minutes, you grab your "to go bag", pets and run.  If you have longer, you can load up important papers, pictures, computers, and things that can't be replaced (again, depending on time).  Once you leave, the first thing you do is get to safety.  Then you go to a designated area (meet up place or an evacuation shelter).
The entire thing is utterly nerve racking!  Come winter and spring, one changes out their “to go bag” (medications, and such), but one keeps it handy as fire season is now year round.

Thanks for the inhaler instructions. I know where to go and to whom if it should ever occur again. So you live like this then Shuhak? Being ready to evacuate at all times? Having a bag with the essentials ready to grab and a prioritized list of what you can take with you contingent upon the time you have to get out? Geez. Sigh. Thank you for the detail map of your life under these conditions. Not relaxing for sure. :(

Yes, that's how I have to live now (and I hate it).  I've got my "to go" bag  in my bedroom next to the closet. The cat carriers are in the living room so I can just stuff them in and go (hopefully).  The dog's harness is on top of the cat carriers so I can hook him up quickly.  If time allows, I have water in the garage and a "to go" food bag.  I keep the pets' "to go" bag in the car.

Those poor babies. They don't know what the heck is happening around them. If it were only possible to communicate with our pets so we could let them know what's up. I wonder if that day will ever come Shuhak? I mean I know about Dr. Doolittle and horse whisperers and such which I take with a grain of salt. But actual understanding of everything you say to them so you can comfort them if they're afraid. What would that be worth? Thank you for your reply m'dear. I guess eventually everything has a downside. You live in paradise in my opinion. Now you have to pay the price for it through no fault of your own. That's terrible. :( This post was edited by RosieG at September 20, 2020 1:18 PM MDT

Oh geez E. Apologies. Our northern California friends have been suffering for WEEKS. Crapped up DANGEROUS air. Can't open windows. Advised to stay inside. FOR WEEKS and there is no end in sight. A real nightmarish tragedy and the size/scope is unbelievable. The dipsh** visited California yesterday to do what else but criticize scold. Within him he is quite delighted with all of it. He hates blue states and we hate him back. Reciprocity rocks. It evens things out. Thank you for your reply! :)

My son and his family live in Everett, WA, just west of Seattle. He said it was awful.

Oh geez E. Condolences. Sigh. So you and your wife are actually suffering directly because your kid  and his family LIVE THERE. I expect that's true of many parents and probably many kids. Loved ones are living through a health crisis. We don't know what the extent of it will be but we know it is a terrible thing. Any day now we'll see the light at the end of the tunnel right? Any day now. Thank you for your reply! :)