To avoid breathing wildfire smoke, it's important to have the right gear. Dust masks, bandanas and damp pieces of cloth won't adequately protect you from inhaling fine particulate matter like PM2.5.

The type of mask matters if you don’t want to inhale harmful pollutants. This is a Kaiser Health News story. Toby Lewsadder stepped outside an Ace Hardware store wearing a simple one-strap dust mask.

In the event of contaminated air, you should have dust masks for each person in your family stored in your kit. Also having plastic sheeting and duct tape to cover windows and doors or setup a ...