Wildfire Smoke - Ready Week is July 12 - 18

Summer is here, and we’re speeding toward what could be a gnarly fire season. This means a few things:

1. Don’t cause fires.

2. Get outside and recreate while the recreating’s good.

3. Make a plan now for creating cleaner indoor air and protecting your health from wildfire smoke!

Aside from a smoky week in September 2020, we’ve skated by with little wildfire smoke for the past few years, so some of us may be out of practice when it comes to fussing about air quality.

New to the area? Welcome! Go buy an air filter.

Our summers are hotter and drier due to climate change. This, combined with fuel buildup in our forests, has resulted in longer, more severe fire seasons and increasing wildfire smoke in our valleys. In western Montana, we are affected by smoke from our own fires as well as fires in surrounding states and even California and Canada. Wildfire smoke is our most significant source of air pollution and as anyone who was around for the 2017 Rice Ridge Fire can attest, it is nasty business. The smoke is a chemical stew of particulate matter, carbon monoxide, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and volatile organic chemicals.

The pollutant we’re most concerned about is fine particulate matter. The tiny particles burrow deep into your lungs and can pass into your bloodstream where they set off an inflammatory response. They impact your heart, lungs and immune system. Even if you are not in a high-risk category (children, older adults, people with heart and lung disease and pregnant people), the smoke is bad for you. It’s bad for everyone, and the longer you’re in it, the worse it gets. Worse still, it comes inside.

Fortunately, we’ve learned a lot since the catastrophic 2017 fires and we know what to do when wildfire smoke rolls into town. The technology to create cleaner indoor air spaces exists and it’s relatively inexpensive. That’s why we’re encouraging everyone to prepare – and help their neighbors and friends prepare – during Missoula County’s (and Montana’s) first ever Wildfire Smoke Ready Week July 12th – 18th.

We will be sharing tips on social media throughout the week (#WildfireSmokeReady) and in next week’s Pathfinder. If you’re in Missoula, volunteers will be at various events throughout the week to talk you through options to create clean indoor air. Be sure to check out MontanaWildfireSmoke.org for more about this week and for information about portable air cleaners and filters, making your own air cleaner, using forced air system to keep your indoor air safer and coping with the double whammy of smoke and heat!

Our changing summers can be daunting but together we can prepare and get Wildfire Smoke Ready! 

The Wildfire Smoke Ready team includes representatives from the Missoula City-County Health Department, Climate Smart Missoula, Missoula County Office of Emergency Management, United Way of Missoula County, Missoula County Fire Protection Association and Missoula County Sustainability.