The moment a wildfire starts near you, you'll get an instant alert and simple tips to reduce your smoke exposure.
30xSmaller than a human hair
Fine enough to reach deep into the lungs. A MERV 13 is built to capture it.
It Doesn't Stay Local
Smoke rides the wind far downwind — you can get smoky air with no fire nearby.
Simple steps to reduce indoor exposure.
During smoke events, the EPA recommends upgrading to a MERV 13 filter — or the highest-rated filter your system can handle — to help reduce the fine particles smoke brings indoors. MERV 13 is the level most home HVAC systems can run while still capturing PM2.5, the fine particulate that makes up the bulk of wildfire smoke.
Over 70,000 wildfires burn in the U.S. every year.
Wildfire smoke can travel 1,000+ miles, affecting states that aren't even near the blaze.
Exposure to wildfire smoke can worsen asthma, trigger heart issues, and lead to ER visits.
Indoor air can hold more fine particles during wildfire events unless it's properly filtered.
The EPA advises using MERV 13 filters or portable HEPA air cleaners during wildfire smoke events.
Use the live wildfire smoke tracker and upgrade your air filters today to protect your lungs and your home.
Shop Filters For Smoke Protection
Author: Michelle Wan
Medically/technically reviewed by: David Clark, Licensed HVAC Technician
Published: August 3, 2026 · Updated: August 3, 2026
You searched for a fire near Oyster Bay. There almost certainly isn't one.
Long Island's wildfire terrain is the Central Pine Barrens, 55 miles east in Suffolk. What reaches Nassau County's North Shore is imported smoke, usually from fires 800-plus miles away in Canada. Filterbuy has spent a decade making filters for homes in this exact situation, and the difference is practical: you are not fleeing anything; you are sealing a house and cleaning the air inside it for days.
Check Filterbuy's live map for current fire and smoke conditions in Oyster Bay, NY. When Nassau County AQI passes 100, close the house, switch your thermostat fan from "Auto" to "On," and run a MERV 13 filter, the rating the EPA recommends for wildfire smoke.
Oyster Bay's smoke comes from somewhere else. The hamlet sits 55 miles west of Suffolk's Central Pine Barrens and over 800 miles from the Canadian fires driving most Long Island smoke events.
Long Island reached "Unhealthy" in July 2026, when NYSDEC forecast that category for Nassau and Suffolk during a smoke episode from northwestern Ontario.
PM2.5 is the pollutant that matters. Wildfire smoke is dominated by particles 2.5 microns and smaller, small enough to reach deep lung tissue.
MERV 13 with the fan on "On" is the fix. EPA estimates a high-efficiency filter running continuously halves indoor PM2.5.
No ductwork means no filter slot. Homes with radiators and window units need a box-fan air cleaner instead.
Check the live map above. An active forest fire inside Oyster Bay is rare: the hamlet is a waterfront community of roughly 7,000 people surrounded by estate woodland, tidal marsh, and suburb, not the continuous pitch pine that carries fast-moving wildfire.
The island's real wildfire terrain is the Central Pine Barrens, 55 miles east in Suffolk County. In March 2025, four brush fires there burned roughly 600 acres and prompted Governor Kathy Hochul to declare a state of emergency, with a plume visible from Connecticut. Nassau County was never in the path, which is the point: the fire and the smoke are usually in two different places.
Three sources put smoke over Oyster Bay, each calling for a different response.
Distances are approximate, measured from Oyster Bay hamlet, Nassau County.
The first row matters most here. In July 2026, fires in northwestern Ontario prompted advisories covering every New York region, with Long Island forecast to reach Unhealthy. New York City Emergency Management cited June 2023 as the benchmark, when the city's AQI peaked at 465.
The Air Quality Index runs 0–500; higher means greater health concern. NYSDEC and the state Health Department issue an Air Quality Health Advisory when ozone or PM2.5 is forecast above 100. The Long Island advisory region covers Nassau and Suffolk together.
AQI bands follow the U.S. EPA scale. Actions reflect EPA wildfire smoke guidance.
If someone in your home is higher risk, act one band early. Children, adults over 65, and anyone with asthma, COPD, or heart disease should treat 101 the way everyone else treats 151: inhalers accessible, no outdoor exertion, stay in the filtered room. CDC guidance for chronic conditions covers what to stock and when to consider leaving.
One local caveat: Oyster Bay has no monitor of its own. The nearest DEC site is Eisenhower Park in East Meadow, 10 miles south, across the island's spine in a different microclimate. That reading is a proxy, not a measurement of your street, which is why sensor-blended maps like the AirNow Fire and Smoke Map give a more honest local picture.
Close the envelope, then clean the air inside it, in this order per EPA clean room guidance:
Close windows and doors. If your system has a fresh-air intake, close it or switch to recirculate.
Upgrade the filter. The EPA recommends MERV 13 or higher during smoky periods; most furnaces accommodate one if changed often.
Set the thermostat fan to "On." On "Auto," the blower only runs during heating or cooling calls, so the filter sits idle most of the hour. EPA estimates continuous operation with a high-efficiency filter halves indoor PM2.5.
Move to a 30-day filter cycle. Filterbuy's standard guidance is 90 days, but there is a separate line for smog and wildfire zones: every 30 days. A smoke event puts Oyster Bay in that category.
Add a portable HEPA cleaner where you sleep. In one instrumented home during a 2020 wildfire, MERV 13 alone held indoor PM2.5 at 55% of outdoor levels; adding a portable cleaner cut it to 22%.
MERV 13 is the residential standard the EPA points to for smoke. Wildfire smoke is mostly PM2.5, and lower ratings let much of that fraction pass straight through. A MERV 8 handles dust and pollen well but is not a smoke filter.
True HEPA captures more per pass but is not a drop-in option for most Long Island homes: the airflow resistance is too high for a typical residential blower, which is why EPA guidance says MERV 13 or higher. Whole-home coverage is the real advantage, since your central system moves far more air across a filter than any portable unit.
Filterbuy's MERV 13 media traps 98% of particles down to 0.3 microns, the range wildfire smoke lives in. If you are unsure your system can handle it, a technician can measure static pressure in one visit. Older blower motors are the main limitation.
After a smoke week on the North Shore, I'm not pulling ash out of return ducts. I'm pulling a fine gray film that a MERV 8 never had a chance at.
David Clark, Licensed HVAC Technician
Then the filter advice above does not apply to you, and most pages will not say so. Plenty of North Shore housing predates central air. If you heat with radiators and cool with window units, there is no air handler and no filter slot. Here is what works instead:
Build a box-fan air cleaner. Tape a MERV 13 filter to the intake side, arrow pointing into the fan. EPA testing found a single 4-inch MERV 13 raised clean air delivery by 123%. Use a fan made in 2012 or later, which has fused plugs and thermal cutoffs.
Pick one room and commit. A house without ducts cannot be cleaned evenly. Choose the bedroom, shut the door, run it continuously.
Set window units to recirculate, and skip single-hose portable ACs, which draw replacement air from outdoors.
Do not open windows overnight. Smoke aloft during the day often settles closer to the surface after dark.
That is also filtration's honest limit. A filter cleans a closed room. It does nothing on a walk, does not replace an N95, and does not remove carbon monoxide or radon.
Oyster Bay has two, arriving from opposite directions.
Mid-March through mid-May is local brush season. New York bans residential brush burning from March 16 to May 14 because spring is when most state wildfires happen: last autumn's litter is dry, new growth has not come in, and winds are high. The 2025 Pine Barrens fires ignited March 8, a week before that year's ban began.
June through September is imported smoke season, overlapping ground-level ozone. That window produced the July 2026 advisories, and it is when the map earns its keep.
If you only change filters twice a year, make it March and early June.
AirNow Fire and Smoke Map: regulatory stations blended with local sensors.
NYSDEC Air Quality Index forecast: the outlook that triggers Nassau County advisories.
AlertNassau: address-specific warnings and burn bans by text or email.
EPA clean room instructions: setting up one well-filtered room.
CDC guidance for chronic conditions: asthma, COPD, heart disease.
U.S. Forest Service AirNow research: where the fire and plume data originate.
Nassau County OEM: shelters, cooling centers, county contacts.
Smoke travels. In July 2026, fires in northwestern Ontario prompted air quality advisories across all of New York State, including Nassau and Suffolk counties.
The EPA notes most furnaces and HVAC systems accommodate MERV 13 without equipment problems when the filter is replaced frequently. Older systems with high static pressure are the exception, and a licensed technician can verify yours.
Every 30 days while smoke is in the area, against 90 days for a typical household. A smoke week loads a filter at roughly the rate a full season would. If you are clearing brush, check New York's open burning rules first.
The map above tells you when smoke reaches Oyster Bay, and a MERV 13 filter is what you do about it. Find your size in Filterbuy's MERV 13 range and keep a spare on the shelf. The week you need one is the week they sell out.
AQI (Air Quality Index). The EPA's 0–500 scale converting pollutant levels into one number. Higher means greater health concern.
PM2.5. Airborne particles 2.5 micrometers or smaller, the dominant health-relevant part of wildfire smoke.
MERV 13. The filter rating the EPA recommends as the residential minimum during wildfire smoke.
Air Quality Health Advisory. A notice from NYSDEC and the state Health Department when AQI is forecast above 100.
Central Pine Barrens. A 100,000-acre pitch pine ecosystem in Suffolk County, Long Island's primary wildfire terrain.
Filterbuy. An American air filter manufacturer in Talladega, Alabama, shipping MERV 8, 11, 13, and carbon filters factory-direct.
Informational only, not medical advice. If smoke is affecting your breathing, contact a physician.
Subscribe to wildfire smoke alerts for Oyster Bay, NY, to get a heads-up before the next event reaches your area.
