Eli5: why do firefighters wear oxygen masks when fighting a building fire, but often not in a wildfire? You’re still breathing in smoke…
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The amount of workable time you can use a BA for is at best 30-45 minutes, which just isn’t feasible in a bushfire/wildfire situation.
On top of that most bushfire/wildfires are burning only natural fuel in an open atmosphere. Whilst this still isn’t great to breathe it is world’s better than breathing in the smoke from manufactured products that most house fire contain. Being out in the open and placing yourself upwind also limits the amount of smoke you actually inhale.
Plastics and other synthetics when burnt are highly carcinogenic, throw into the mix that all that smoke is usually trapped in a room or building and you can see why you don’t want it anywhere near your lungs.
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