Inhaling smoke from California's wildfires sent 55,000 people to an early grave - are YOU at risk?

An alarming number of Californians perish from wildfires long after firefighters have tackled the blazes, new research shows.

Scientists are sounding the alarm about PM2.5 — tiny smoke particles that emanate from wildfires and can travel deep into people's respiratory tracts.

For those inhaling them, they can be more dangerous than the flames themselves.

Researchers estimated at least 52,480 premature deaths from the decade to 2018.

Wildfire smoke is linked to a range of health problems that can land victims in an early grave.

A Santa Clara Cal Fire crew scrambles to extinguish a spot fire this month, at the start of what experts worry could be another bad season for blazes.

A man checks the amount of tiny PM2.5 pollution in the air on his cell phone, a precaution many Californians now take   

Debilitating conditions includes asthma, declining lung capacity and diabetes.

Researchers also warn of atherosclerosis — when plaque builds up in the inner lining of arteries, causing them to thicken and harden — which can lead to heart disease.

The tiny particles don't just claim lives, researchers said, they also cost the Golden State some $432 billion over the 11-year period.

The study was led by Rachel Connolly of the University of California Los Angeles and was published in Science Advances.

'These findings extend evidence on climate-related health impacts,' Connolly and others wrote in the study.

'Wildfires account for a greater mortality and economic burden than indicated by earlier studies.'

Particles from wildfires are among the finest types of pollution in the air, and measure 2.5 microns or less in diameter, according to the California Air Resources Board.

Due to their small size — roughly one-thirtieth of a human hair — they can cause a range of health issues that may not immediately show.

The team focussed on tiny particles from wildfires, as opposed to such other sources as transport and manufacturing.

They found that the number of premature deaths linked to this type of pollution could be as high as 55,710.

The cost of treating people affected by the pollutants could be as high as $456 billion, said the report.

Rachel Connolly of the University of California Los Angeles led the study about deadly, tiny wildfire particles.

Tiny smoke particles that emanate from wildfires and can travel deep into people's respiratory tracts.

The smoke from wildfires can be hard to escape — this image shows haze in New York City brought down from wildfires in Canada in 2023 

Children, the elderly, and people with underlying health problems are more vulnerable to PM2.5 pollution, they said.

Weather apps can alert people to days when air quality is low.

On bad days, N95 masks and air filters can help limit your exposure. 

The report was issued as firefighters managed to bring California's latest wildfire under control.

Fire crews tackled the Greenville Fire near the Bay Area city of Livermore, which burned through 44 acres over the weekend.

Much of California and other parts of the American West are sweltering under the first heatwave of the year, with temperatures as high as 120 degrees Fahrenheit (49 Celsius) in some places.

Vast areas of woods and grassland are torched every year in California and other parts of the nation, causing millions of dollars of destruction and claiming lives.

The National Interagency Fire Center estimates an average of 70,000 wildfires happen annually across the country.

They're becoming more frequent. California saw five times as many wildfires from 1996 to 2021 compared to 1971 to 1995.

Fully 10 of California's largest wildfires have occurred in the last 20 years — five of which occurred in 2020 alone, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

The western United States is girding for another for a hot summer that could bring more blazes.

Wildfires are a natural part of the life cycle of wilderness.

But climate change, caused by mankind's unchecked burning of fossil fuels and emissions of planet-heating gases, is making them bigger, hotter and more dangerous.

Most of the time, people are to blame for them — because of discarded cigarettes, arson, faulty equipment and debris burns.

'The importance of wildfire management will only grow in the coming decades as aridification intensifies with climate change and more regions are susceptible to fires,' the researchers wrote in their paper.