Its tough to deal with the the heat and smoke at once, especially if you don't have air conditioning. But we all should be aware of the health implecations of both. Be aware of symptoms of of both, and take them seriously.
How does smoke get into your house? Every home has a ventilation air intake. If you have an HRV and its smokey out side, turn it off, its ok to leave off for a while. If you don't have an HRV you will have a 4" fresh air duct from outside to your return air duct.
So if the AC or fan is on, it's always bringing in outside air. Be carefull to to cover combustion air inlets, they terminate by gas appliances. Fresh air ducts terminate in your return air duct. You can cover this fresh air intake with a bag or duct tape or you can cut up a filter from the building supply store and make it fit. Doesn't have to be pretty, use duct tape or whatever it takes. This will help with the smoke, but remember every thing that exhausts fresh air will cause outdoor air to enter your home, so try to use exhausts devices sparingly. Range hoods, bath fans, and dryers all exhaust out and outside air will come inside to replace it. When the smoke Index is this high try your best to limit the outdoor air from getting inside.
How to deal with the smoke in your home? Firstly change your filter to one with the highest MERV rating possible, above 10 or 11. Carbon filters are great, air purifiers or whatever your have. If you have an electronic air filter, wash the filters and run it a continuously. We sell IWave air purifiers, they make
dust particles stick together so they get picked up by your filter. https://iwaveair.com Check them out, alot of areas in the Okanagan recomend them. Any old covid air cleaners you have, dig them out and put them to work.
Remember that when the smoke clears, take apart the temporary apart and return everything to the original state. I hope everyone gets throught this tought time as well as possible, and if you are having respitory problems seek medical advice.
Jonathan
Heli Cool