Smoke worse than fire for the afflicted

Smoke worse than fire: "If that's the case, there are steps you can take to minimise harm. Probably the most essential is to stay out of the fire zone if your asthma is not stable – for example, if you require reliever medication more than three times a week, you become short of breath when you exercise, or you find yourself waking through the night because of breathing difficulties."
I have a friend in Melbourne whose family is really being affected by the smoke from the bushfires. I realise, in the scheme of things, this is not top priority but if you are the one dealing with people who cannot breathe and who are having more asthma attacks, then it puts on the pressure. Because we are in the position of having to deal with severe fire, risk to property, life and the damage that can cause to our environment, our fire fighters and ourselves, then the smoke fallout across other areas is not being adressed. We have a good history of management techniques. Australians are good at getting a plan together to help alleviate "conditions". Some people will be panicking, some will be affected by the frequent inhalation of smoke and others will be ill and the smoke will irritate them more. I t's a matter of getting together some good approaches and letting people know. This article has some ideas, but we need to get more together and publicise them.