The sky over Las Vegas is an orange haze, and the house smells like a campfire. Here is what to do in the next ten minutes. Close the windows and doors, switch your air conditioner (AC) to recirculate (it reuses the air already inside your home), set the fan to ON, and check the filter. Each step is explained below.
For the timing of smoke season in the valley, see how wildfire season plays out in Las Vegas.
Does Wildfire Smoke Actually Get Inside?
Yes, fine particles smaller than 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5) slip through cracks around closed windows and doors. They also enter through any ventilation system with a fresh air intake. That fine particle pollution is the health hazard, and the campfire smell only hints at it.
- Gaps around doors and windows
- A fresh air intake left open
- A whole-house fan or evaporative cooler pulling outdoor air in
- Smoke carried in on people and pets
Ultra-dry Mojave air wears down rubber door and window seals, which widens the gaps smoke slips through. Smoke from California fires drifts into the Las Vegas Valley, affecting local air quality whenever the wind carries it in.
That is why the bigger picture of indoor air in Las Vegas homes matters well beyond one smoky week.
The First Ten Minutes After a Clark County Air Quality Advisory
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Stay indoors with windows and doors closed, and skip outdoor activity.
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Switch the system to recirculate with the fresh air intake closed, if yours has one.
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Set the thermostat fan to ON so air keeps moving through the filter between cooling cycles.
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Check the current advisory on the Clark County Division of Air Quality live monitoring page for local air quality readings.
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Move anyone with asthma or heart disease to the room with the best filtration to protect them from smoke exposure, and send health questions to the Southern Nevada Health District.
The Clark County Department of Environment and Sustainability runs the monitoring network behind that page. Its Division of Air Quality also issues seasonal advisories for the summer smoke season. Follow any evacuation order from local officials.
Who Faces the Highest Health Risks From Smoke?
Children and older adults are hit hardest, and so is anyone with asthma or heart disease. Children breathe more air per pound of body weight than adults. Older adults are more likely to have heart or lung disease, which puts them at higher risk.
Smoke irritates the respiratory system, and at high levels, even healthy people feel it.
Your AC Is the Best Air Cleaner You Already Own
When Las Vegas hits 115°F in July, your AC runs 16+ hours a day. That makes it your best way to protect your indoor air once smoke arrives.
Run the air conditioner inside your home with a high-efficiency filter installed and the fan on, and it works as a whole-house air cleaner. Every pass pulls room air through the filter. On AUTO, the fan only runs while the system is cooling, so air skips the filter between cycles.
A fresh air intake is a duct built to pull outdoor air inside all day, so closing it comes first. Recirculate mode is the right setting because it keeps cycling the air already inside your home through the filter and blocks new smoke from entering.
Running the fan continuously costs more on the power bill and loads the filter faster. Haboob dust storms already load Las Vegas filters with desert dust, and smoke adds to it. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guidance says to change filters sooner than the manufacturer recommends during heavy smoke, so check yours every few days and swap it when it looks dirty. Pulling a filter again and again is a hassle, and a smoke-loaded one smells like a campfire the second it leaves the slot.
That dust load has its own explanation for why Las Vegas houses stay so dusty.
Which Filter Actually Stops Smoke?
Smoke is fine particulate, so it takes high-efficiency indoor air filters to remove it. The EPA advises a filter rated Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value (MERV) 13, which is dense enough to catch smoke-sized particles, or the highest rating your system’s fan and filter slot accommodate.
A dense filter in a shallow slot restricts airflow, so the right filter is the highest rating your equipment is built to handle. A Bob’s Repair technician can check your filter slot and blower to confirm that rating.
“Technician Jordan provided great service for the A/C tune-up. He was friendly, informative, and finished the job in a timely manner. I appreciated how clearly he explained the maintenance recommendations.”
The difference between High-Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters and MERV 13 filters gets its own breakdown in how HEPA and MERV 13 filters compare.
Do Air Purifiers Help, and Where Should You Not Put One?
Yes, portable HEPA purifiers filter the air in the room they sit in. They supplement your central system, and the EPA says pairing one with a high-efficiency system filter gives more effective filtration.
Choose a unit sized for the room using its Clean Air Delivery Rate (CADR), which shows how much clean air it delivers. Make sure it does not produce ozone, a separate pollutant.
Run it on the highest fan speed in the room where people spend the most time, in open space away from corners and doorways.
For whole-home options, see how air scrubbers compare with UV lights.
Will a Humidifier Help With Wildfire Smoke?
A humidifier does not remove smoke, since it adds water vapor and takes no particles out of the air.
What Not to Do During a Southern Nevada Smoke Event
Skip the whole-house fan, since it pulls outdoor air straight in. If you have an evaporative cooler, use it as little as possible, because it brings smoke inside too.
Keep windows shut overnight while smoke is present. Opening them to cool the house is a standard Las Vegas summer habit, and it lets smoke in.
If the house gets too hot to stay in, the EPA advises seeking shelter elsewhere and airing the house out only when outdoor air improves.
The Southern Nevada Health District advises against burning candles or using gas stoves, and the EPA adds incense to that list. Each one adds other pollutants to the air already loaded with smoke. Vacuuming stirs settled particles back up, so wait until the smoke clears or use a vacuum with a HEPA filter.
When Smoke Still Gets In: Ducts in North Las Vegas and Henderson Homes
If the house still smells like smoke with every window shut and the fan running, the leak sits in the building envelope or the ductwork. In Henderson and North Las Vegas homes with attic ducts, a leaky return pulls smoky attic air past the filter and into your rooms.
Our duct team covers this side on the Bob’s Repair duct site through its indoor air quality services in Las Vegas.
Call Bob’s Repair at (702) 381-5080. Same-day service is available 7 days a week.
