Unlike typical wildfires, smoke from the L.A. fires — consisting of toxic materials from burned down homes, cars, and more — poses additional risks to public health.

All red flag warnings for critical fire danger expired by Thursday evening, bringing relief for firefighting work on two deadly blazes in Los Angeles County.

Calculating air pollution from wildfires and other events has become more complicated. That doesn’t mean it’s necessarily more accurate.

Los Angeles is now a week removed from the day that multiple devastating wildfires erupted to torch tens of thousands of acres. But still, the question remains if people should wear masks to limit their exposure to toxins in the air.

Wear a tight-fitting N95 mask at the bare minimum, but a P100 is better, experts say. Wear long sleeves, eye protection, closed-toed shoes and cut-resistant gloves. Clean or decontaminate anything that’s been in contact with ash.