Mechanic shows how to keep your cars clean from Canadian wildfire smoke
MEDIA, Pa. (CBS) -- It's not just outside or in your home where you can be exposed to dangerous air; tens of thousands of people still must commute to work this week. The hazardous smoke is a reminder for people to keep their cars as clean as possible.
"A baseball game got canceled, LaGuardia is closed," Michael Bates said. "People are wearing masks and for good reason. This is from a fire in another country."
Many people in the area like Bates are shocked the Canadian wildfires are causing dangerous air to linger in the Delaware Valley. But it hasn't stopped many from hitting the road, with some precautions.
"I keep my windows closed," Loretta James of Glen Mills said, "and I don't have the air on."
"Just keeping the windows up, keeping the air on," Joe Policno said. "That's basically it."
Carmen Imburgia, who owns Carmen's Auto Body, does not recommend riding with the windows down.
Imburgia says you'll probably need to do a little more than roll up the windows to keep the potentially dangerous bad air out. Specifically, if you have an older car.
"If you have an older car, you should change your filter," Imburgia said.
Imburgia says those filters are widely available and pretty inexpensive. For those who know nothing about cars, he explains how simple it is to change one.
"There's a paper filter that's in there," Imburgia said. "It's probably a square filter, maybe a 10 by 10, which would come out and you can replace it. It's not very difficult."
But there's something else all drivers can be doing to stay safe -- you're going to want to make sure you find the semi-circular recycle button on your dash when using the A/C.
"That recycles the air that's in the car," Imburgia said. "So when you have your air conditioner on, it's just pulling the cool air and recirculating it so you're not pulling the outside air."