ANNA MATTSON / INSIDE CLIMATE NEWS – The Jones Road fire in New Jersey scorched 15,300 acres for nearly three weeks this spring. Its sickly orange haze vanished hours after the blaze was doused, but a stench from the blackened landscape, including parts of the Pine Barrens, lingered for days.

New Jersey public health experts now are trying to understand what, if any, health risks are hidden in the smoke from wildfires, whether they originate at home or faraway forests. They have limited resources for the task, but a small core of health researchers and academics are starting to gather data about illnesses related to days of uncontrolled burns …