Wildfire smoke puts harmful particle pollution into the air. Wildfire smoke puts harmful particle pollution into the air. Data from Climate Central shows wildfire smoke is partly to blame for why air quality improvements in Indiana have stagnated. Wildfire smoke has actually reversed air quality gains in states along the West Coast. There are several ways to check the air quality in your area, including the AirNow app and IDEM's Near-real Time Air Quality Maps and Data.