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Mask Oakland

@maskoakland.bsky.social
36 followers 14 following 18 posts

Community relief project responding to smoke crises in the Bay Area since 2017, now #COVID. #HelpUsBreathe 💖 Queer+Trans Led ‍🌈 maskoakland.org

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Mask Oakland @maskoakland.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Noted. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
theguardian.com
US conducted ‘mass spying campaign’ against leftwing groups and anti-ICE protesters, records reveal
DHS sent undercover agents to meetings and infiltrated chats of groups opposing Trump’s immigration crackdown
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Daniel Swain @weatherwest.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
I've been talking a lot about the disastrous recent loss of American institutional capacity regarding climate science. But today, I'd like to announce something we've been working on, quietly, in the meantime to offer a lifeline to some of those affected. [Thread]
First page of a 2-page flyer describing the Climate Science and Communications Fund. It shows a map of gift recipient locations, and also summarize statistics regarding the program thus far (including over $3 million disbursed to date), with testimonials from individual recipients.Second page of a 2-page flyer describing the Climate Science and Communications Fund. It further describes the need for and goals of the program. It also includes a point of contact email: roshan@climate-talent.org
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Mask Oakland @maskoakland.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Just remembered this 2021 study about how PM 2.5 from Wildfires may be worse than other forms of PM 2.5. (which would be an indication our Air Quality Index system is overstating what's safe to breathe when it comes to wildfire smoke) www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Wildfire smoke impacts respiratory health more than fine particles from other sources: observational evidence from Southern California - Nature Communications
Recent toxicological studies suggest that wildfire particulate matter may be more toxic than equal doses of ambient PM2.5. Here, the authors show that even for similar exposure levels, PM2.5 from wild...
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kenofseattle @kenofseattle.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
I hereby halt your doom scroll to show you this natural phenomenon known as a Light Pillar on a ski run in Austria. Kind of feels like you're being visited by god.
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Mask Oakland @maskoakland.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
in an age of slop, remember to tune into something hopeful, clear and insightful. follow your heart. the tendrils of grief become curiosity. we need you not just when you are achieving or activist, but when you are resting, teary, and full of wonder.
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Mask Oakland @maskoakland.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Help the survivors of Cali, Colombia 7.4 earthquake this week. Someone in our network moved there recently and their home was destroyed. They are connected to local mutual aid efforts and will pass funds on. www.gofundme.com/f/XiomiSuppo...
gofundme.com
Donate to Aid for Xiomara and Rescue Workers in Cali, organized by María Xiomára Dorsey-Chingaté
My name is Xiomara. I'm a Colombian adoptee who returned last… María Xiomára Dorsey-Chingaté needs your support for Aid for Xiomara and Rescue Workers in Cali
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Prof Friederike Otto @frediotto.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
A succession of heatwaves and very dry conditions - both driven by human-induced climate change, fueld the severe wildfires in Spain and France - new @wwattribution.bsky.social study www.worldweatherattribution.org/climate-chan...
Map of Southern France and Northern Spain with the burnt area in July highlighted as red polygons and the study areas around Madrid and Bordeaux outlined.
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Warren Wells, AICP @warrenjwells.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
AQI absolutely brutal in western Sonoma County (Sebastopol, Occidental) from the Woodside Fire, near Salt Point State Park.
Purple Air screenshotAerial image of fire, from the SF Chronicle
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Just Me @skiswm.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Smoke from the Woodside fire in Sonoma visible at sunset in the East Bay.
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Tessa @kraftytess.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
No leaving the windows open to cool down the house tonight! #woodsidefire #sonomacountyb #healdsburg
Healdsburg weather page showing Hazardous air quality from BBB Woodside Fire on the Sonoma coast.
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Mike Ely @social.taupehat.com · 31/07/2026
It's getting funky, getting funky! #woodsidefire
Map from purpleair.com showing absolutely deplorable air quality in and near Santa Rosa, California
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Anthony Edwards @edwardsanthonyb.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Why is smoke from #WoodsideFire in Sonoma County so bad from a small blaze? Winds are being channeled through the Russian River and Petaluma Gap, bringing smoke to the Hwy 101 corridor. A shallow marine layer ~1,500ft w/ hot air above cold air prevents smoky winds from mixing w/ the free atmosphere
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Mask Oakland @maskoakland.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Now 143 acres. Very very high AQI (1000+) in the surrounding area, and worsening air quality across Sonoma County.
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Dr. Lucky Tran @luckytran.com · 17/07/2026
So frustrating seeing wishy washy public health messaging like this. When air is at hazardous levels: AVOID outdoors USE air purifiers WEAR a mask Do or do not, there is no try!
HAZARDOUS AIR QUALITY
• AQI OVER 300
AVOID TIME OUTSIDE
• CONSIDER AIR PURIFIER
• CONSIDER MASK USE
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Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha @thellpsx.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
This is possibly the worst and widest spread smoke event in N American history and Mask Oakland has some good info and tools.
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Mask Oakland @maskoakland.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Extreme wildfire smoke hits US and Canada. Here's our tiny California wildfire smoke org's advice from 9 years of watching and responding. (slides 1-4 of 8) #wildfiresmoke #canadawildfires #airquality #NewYork #Chicago #Toronto
Mask Oakland on Crisis:
US + Canada Wildfire Smoke
JULY 16, 2026

During West Coast Wildfires since 2017, Mask Oakland has distributed over 500k N95 and KN95 masks to vulnerable communities in the Bay Area and beyond. The current smoke levels in many Northeast US cities have passed 400 AQI (below 50 is normal), reaching hazardous, catastrophic levels.  Even through major wildfire seasons, most have never experienced 400+ AQI, except if they were living down the road from a major wildfire. This is likely the worst smoke event in North American History in terms of severity and population affected.

Most people and governments are under-informed on how dangerous this is. You may want to help. Here is some advice.
@maskoakland 1 of 8, July 2026N95 Masking helps protect against smoke,
staying inside helps, air purifiers help

AQI 150 is unhealthy, you should wear the best mask you can when outdoors.

Which mask? P100 > N95, KN95 > Surgical Mask > Cloth > No mask

Wildfire smoke negatively effects everyone, even if you consider yourself healthy or that it doesn’t bother you much. It is full of toxic junk, including PM 2.5, tiny particles so small your lungs cannot filter them. Those particles then enter your blood stream and essentially scratch up your circulatory system and your organs.

It is very unlikely to be lethal in small or moderate exposure, but each exposure very slightly reduces your long-term lifespan and quality of life. Over time this can add up to significant impact. Hospitalizations do increase during wildfire smoke events. Check on people you know with respiratory challenges. 

Indoor air quality is better than outside, during wildfire crisis, but is not perfectly safe. Close windows, use air purifiers, and mask if you sense levels rising indoors.

Driving is an exposure risk, web search the model of your car and see if it has a cabin air filter, older cars may not. After going outside in smoke, change your clothes and shower, and bag up your dirty clothes.

@maskoakland 2 of 8, July 2026Track the smoke / AQI levels in your area. 

Levels can change quickly and you want to be informed

Media recommends airnow.gov, but it updates using longer and wider averages versus the below which focus more on individual sensors that update every few minutes.

We recommend these apps:
       IQ Air / AirVisual
WatchDuty, and PurpleAir.

But also take breaks from monitoring, or delegate one person in your family or circle or organization to monitor to reduce fatigue from constant tracking.

@maskaoakland 3 of 8 July 2026For very high AQI (300+), start combining strategies, just masking is not enough

The worse it gets the more important it is to combine smoke mitigation strategies. At the highest levels: Masking + Indoors + Air Purifiers + Windows Closed + Reduced exertion.

Every 50-100 AQI above demands new level of response, by 400+, 500+, 600+ we are talking catastrophic levels where even the percentage that gets through your masks filter is not a healthy amount to be taking in.

We’ve helped community members on the frontlines of fires, and when the air is at 600 for an extended period, they end up with significant cognitive impacts, even when huddled on the ground next to their air purifier and wearing a mask as much as they can tolerate.

If you monitor air quality and see somewhere you can drive to that’s below 50, and you are in say, 500, it would offer significant health benefits to even temporarily travel to a “green” air quality area.

@maskoakland 4 of 8
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Dr. Lucky Tran @luckytran.com · 16/07/2026
AQI in Lower Manhattan, New York is at 297. Over 300 means air quality is at hazardous levels. Stay inside if you can, and please wear a high quality mask if you have to go outside.
Aqi at 297in NYC
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Mask Oakland @maskoakland.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026... 20 US states and counting affected
theguardian.com
Air quality plummets in 20 US states as smoke from Canadian wildfires spreads
Millions of Americans face air quality alerts from Minnesota to New York as authorities urge people to stay indoors
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Dr. Lucky Tran @luckytran.com · 16/07/2026
Woah. It’s raining ashes due to wildfire smoke in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Source: www.threads.com/@michiganuns...
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Mask Oakland @maskoakland.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Chicago has the worst air of any major city in the world right now. 402 is extremely high. #WildfireSmoke from the fires in Canada are the source for 5 of the top 7 worst air in major cities right now.
Live AQI global major city ranking
1. Chicago, USA, 402
2. Detroit, USA, 341
3. Minneapolis, USA 198
4. Lahore Pakistan 186
5. New York, USA 181
6. Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo 170
7. Toronto, Canada 169
8. Delhi, India 163
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Chris Hayes @chrislhayes.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
So far this year we've had: the warmest winter on record in the mountain west, a record-shattering heat wave in Europe, once in a thousand year rainfall and flooding texas and forest fire smoke blanketing the mid west and the north east. Feels like something's going on with the climate!
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Dr. Lucky Tran @luckytran.com · 15/07/2026
Everyone in Canada and Northern US going outside today
static.klipy.com
Seinfeld & Kramer: Red Light Surprise
ALT: Seinfeld & Kramer: Red Light Surprise
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Daniel Swain @weatherwest.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
A major thunderstorm outbreak is unfolding across the interior Pacific NW. While not "dry thunderstorms" (w/briefly heavy showers), numerous wildfire ignitions are still likely due to strikes outside of rain cores, severe pre-existing drought, & heatwave to follow. #ORwx #WAwx
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Marie A. Menard @marieadmenard.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Les feux qui ravagent l’Ontario sont tellement importants qu’ils enfument tout le nord-est de l’Amérique. Il est déconseillé de sortir a New York ou Chicago aujourd’hui tellement l’air est toxique
Carte montrant les incendies de l’Amérique du Nord et les fumées qu’ils provoquent
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Columbia Climate School @climate.columbia.edu · 16/07/2026
Severe drought conditions combined with heat in Canada and the US have created “a perfect storm for really dry conditions to provide a lot of fuel for these wildfires to burn,” says climate scientist @dwesty.bsky.social of @lamont.columbia.edu. Via @apnews.com. bit.ly/3SWJGEz
bit.ly
Heavy smoke from wildfires blankets the US Midwest and Northeast, prompting evacuations
Thousands of visitors have been told to evacuate a remote Minnesota wilderness area because of wildfires sending heavy smoke across the U.S. Midwest and Northeast.
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Cleveland 19 News @cleveland19.com · 16/07/2026
Smoke from the Ontario wildfires covered Edgewater Beach Thursday. If you have any photos or videos of the smoky conditions, you can share them with us. www.cleveland19.com/community/audie…
Image 1
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Randall Munroe @xkcd.com · 12/02/2025
Incoming Asteroid xkcd.com/3049
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Mask Oakland @maskoakland.bsky.social · 09/02/2025
Duarte, east of Altadena, is being used by EPA as a toxic fire debris sorting site, and community members are understandably protesting. #EatonFire www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/e...
nbclosangeles.com
EPA debris site for Eaton Fire sparks protest from community in Duarte
Tensions continue to rise in Duarte as people living in the city and surrounding communities protest the EPA’s use of Lario Park as a collection site for debris from the Eaton fire.
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Cathy Gellis @cathygellis.bsky.social · 08/02/2025
Read the whole thread, much of which is about goodness in the response to the Eaton Fire disaster, but this post just pissed me tf off. I hope govt officials can fix this systemically so individuals don't have to bear the burden.
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Bedrooms Are For People @boulderbedrooms.bsky.social · 08/02/2025
"Sisters Lesly and Rose Garrido-Lopez view the remains of their home which burned in the Eaton Fire."
vox.com
Los Angeles wildfire recovery: What solutions exist to help LA rebuild? | VoxVoxAudioVideoVoxCloseVideoAudioCrosswordFacebookInstagramYoutubeRSSTikTokVoxFacebookLinkVoxFacebookInstagramYoutubeRSSTikTok
The next steps for Los Angeles as it rebuilds from the wildfires.
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Jireh Deng @bokchoy-baobei.bsky.social · 08/02/2025
Last month I spent hours talking to Black residents displaced by the Eaton fire for @npr.org. Many recall the redlining, the freeways that took their homes in the 60s, and the persistent gun violence from the 80s. Now they turn to the ashes searching for hope. www.npr.org/2025/02/08/n...
npr.org
Black Altadenans seek hope and resilience in the wake of the LA wildfires
Residents face the daunting prospect of rebuilding their homes in this once-thriving historically Black community.
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Mask Oakland @maskoakland.bsky.social · 09/02/2025
:cries in PG&E (norcal utility) wildfires history:
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Eileen Clancy 🧿 @clancyny.bsky.social · 08/02/2025
Stunning thread. Starts very softly about the PTA. Segues to Eaton fire aftermath. What you can do with deep community connections. Brava!
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Mask Oakland @maskoakland.bsky.social · 09/02/2025
When school burns down and you lead the PTA. Generous play-by-play account of the absurd situations fire mutual aid encounters. Thank you, Jen. #EatonFire
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Hunter Bolding Video @hunterboldingvideo.bsky.social · 09/02/2025
If you lived in Altadena you knew who Norman the Werewolf was. He dressed up for every holiday. Sadly, he burned in the Eaton Fire. Luckily, Norman Jr. has stepped up in his stead to defend the faith. #AltadenaStrong
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Mask Oakland @maskoakland.bsky.social · 04/02/2025
Disabled people die at higher rates in disasters, and yet here we are emnetwork.substack.com/p/fema-pulls...
emnetwork.substack.com
FEMA Pulls Disability Material from Ready.gov
States, Local Governments, Territories, and Tribal Entities left with a single PDF ‘brochure’ online.
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Daniel Swain @weatherwest.bsky.social · 04/02/2025
As earlier anticipated, a strong frontal band is now moving through SF North Bay and toward SF Peninsula/Central Bay Area, bringing locally torrential downpours and strong, gusty winds. Local urban/creek flooding likely & could be a severe t-storm or two in next few hours. #CAwx
Radar snapshot depicting front moving into SF Bay Area.
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Mask Oakland @maskoakland.bsky.social · 04/02/2025
Solidarity with everyone in Los Angeles still very affected by the fires as the attention starts to shift away. Please remember fire victims, it's years not weeks of recovery. #EatonFire #PalisdadesFire
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Dr. Lucky Tran @luckytran.com · 04/02/2025
“The US was considered a world leader in public health. With one repressive stroke that reputation risks being shattered & broken. If anything is forbidden now, it is that medical & science journals, whose duty is to stand for integrity and equity, should bow to political or ideological censorship.”
BMJ: Medical journal editors must resist CDC order and anti-gender ideology
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Ryan Mac 🙃 @rmac.bsky.social · 27/01/2025
important clues on the possible start of the Eaton Fire: www.nytimes.com/2025/01/26/u...
nytimes.com
Start of Eaton Fire Focus Attention on Southern California Edison
Investigators are still trying to determine what started a fire that raged through Altadena, Calif. A new video appears to show sparking on a power line near the origin of the blaze.
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Dr. Lucky Tran @luckytran.com · 27/01/2025
Rain in LA brings some much needed good news
Palisades Fire: 94% contained
Eaton Fire: 98% contained
Hughes Fire: 95% contained.
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Alice Wong @sfdirewolf.bsky.social · 28/01/2025
🔥 We raised $6900 for @maskblocla.bsky.social so far! ❤️ Mutual aid ❤️ Community care ❤️ Disability justice 📖Receive a signed copy of Disability Intimacy for every $100 donation 💰Venmo @maskblocla.bsky.social 📩Email receipt: DisabilityVisibilityProject@gmail.com We really are all we've got.
Graphic with a white background with text that reads, Receive a signed copy of Disability Intimacy, Donate $100 @MaskBlocLA Venmo, Email receipt to DisabilityVisibilityProject@gmail.com. In the center is a book cover for Disability Intimacy, a graphic with a purple background with a floral print. In the center with a light beige background with a red flower on top, green leaves on both sides, underneath that flower is a purple one and right next to the purple is an orange flower. Under the purple and orange flowers are stems. Overlaid on top of the flowers in black bold letters: Disability Intimacy Essays on Love, Care, and Desire Edited by Alice Wong, Editor of Disability Visibility. Book cover by Madeline Partner.
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