The dirty air and smoke from those fires is so bad for the human body that it can lower life expectancy.
"Eighty percent of the smoke from wildfires is particulate matter," Prunicki said. "In addition, there’s other bad things for your lungs, such as cancer-causing agents like formaldehyde, benzine, things like that. Lots of toxins."
As people in the Bay Area snapped pictures of the smoky, orange-colored sky last year, a company based in San Francisco was busy taking a different type of image.
Aclima sent its hybrid cars into neighborhoods across the Bay Area to measure the air pollution — or particulate matter.