"It was such a scary time here," said Phoenix's mom Amy Whiteford, as she shared a photo she took of the heavy smoke she was subjected to, as flames surrounded the Napa Valley.
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"The fumes were so bad," recalled Whiteford. "It was different from just a wildfire where you are worried about particulate matter, but these were houses and garages that burned, house paint and refrigerators."
Now, eight-month-old Phoenix and his mom are part of a U.C. Davis study designed to examine the impacts of the North Bay fires on pregnant women.
"We have a lot of women that seem to be very interested because I think they're wondering the same things," explained Dr. Rebecca Schmidt, the lead public researcher for the pregnancy study. "What was I exposed to, what am I still being exposed to and what effects this could have on their child?"
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The pregnancy research is part of a larger set of October wildfire studies launched by U.C. Davis with funding from the National Institute of Environmental Health.
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Everything from the air to the soils in Napa, Santa Rosa and surrounding areas is being studied.
Phoenix is a happy, healthy baby, but his parents want to learn as much as they can--and maybe help others--by participating.
After all, Phoenix didn't get his name by accident.
"Driving through the ashes I said 'Something good has to come out of this fire,'" said Whiteford, "and I said 'oh, I think there's a word for that...so Phoenix."
For more information on the study or to volunteer, click here.
Click here for more stories, pictures and videos on the North Bay Fires.