The smoke from fires that blaze through the wildland-urban interface (WUI) has far greater health impacts than smoke from wildfires in remote areas, new research finds.

The study, published this week in Science Advances, estimates that emissions from WUI fires are proportionately about three times more likely to lead to annual premature deaths than emissions from wildfires in general. This is because the fires, and their associated emissions, are far closer to populated areas.

The Pacific Palisades fire, the most destructive wildfire in Los Angeles history, has scorched nearly 20,000 acres, according to CAL FIRE's latest figures, but as the images show, some areas of land and structures have managed to escape the flames.

Frank Flocke, a senior scientist at NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), told Newsweek: "The variability of winds on a fine scale due to terrain or obstacles" could be part of the reason some areas of vegetation have avoided being burned.

While flames may be the most visual wildfire danger, experts say smoke and fire retardant slurry can have long-lasting effects on human health and the environment.

“There are hundreds of gases that are emitted from wildfire smoke, some of them in very, very small quantities,” National Center for Atmospheric Research scientist Rebecca Hornbrook said. “Some — like carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxides — are emitted in higher quantities, but some of those smaller quantity gases are actually even more toxic.”

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