As I went for a run this morning in Central Montana, I couldn’t see across the valley due to the wildfire smoke coming from across the West and Canada. My lungs burned, and my allergies were in full force. As I ran, I thought about all the complaining I hear about the smoke. I get it. It sucks. 

I thought about the misplaced blame I too often hear. Maybe I listen to it more because I’ve worked for many agencies that are recipients of said blame. I’ve worked for the Montana Department of Quality with the air quality folks. I’ve worked for local County government and the public health air quality folks. I am on a wildfire Incident Management Team, composed of people (active and retired) from federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial entities. Land management agencies bring in these teams to manage wildfires when they occur. I’ve heard the blame placed every which way and the other.

First, I ask people to stop. There are many hard working people out there doing their best to provide you with information so you can take charge of your life and health and make good decisions. There are many politicians playing politics around forest management and wildfire, and I constantly see them putting out misinformation. Regardless of which side of the political aisle you fall on, please be careful where you get your information. 

Unfortunately for this year, the word I keep hearing is “unprecedented.” It is scorching and really dry. Many places didn’t get a significant snowpack, and it melted early, meaning the fuels in our forests are primed for burning. The majority of the fires we see burning now will be on the landscape until a season-ending event, or more simply put, snowfall. 

With all that said, I want to provide a few links for finding information regarding wildfires and smoke. I’ll also share some of the knowledge I’ve gleaned from the jobs mentioned above and a few tips and tricks I use as I’ve learned how to deal with wildfire smoke. 

Where does wildfire smoke come from?

Well, obviously, it comes from fires. But often, the smoke in your area is likely coming from fires in another state. I am not a meteorologist or an expert on this, but airstreams and weather can carry smoke from a long way away. 

Check out this interactive wildfire smoke map: fire.airnow.gov/. 

Zoom in to your local area or out to the entire continent to see where the smoke comes from. You can set your layers and even find the air quality monitoring stations that supply information to other sites like http://svc.mt.gov/deq/todaysair/. 

How do I protect my health from wildfire smoke?

Experts put out a lot of good information on this, so I won’t reinvent the wheel. Since I’m in Montana, I’ll use this example, but most states that experience severe wildfire smoke will have similar recommendations. 

To summarize, they recommend:

1. Paying attention to air quality reports.

2. Paying attention to visibility guides.

3. If told to stay indoors, keep indoor air as clean as possible.

4. Don’t add to indoor air pollution.

5. Follow your doctor’s advice about medicines and your respiratory management plan if you have asthma or another lung disease. 

6. Don’t rely on dust masks for protection.

7. Avoid smoke exposure during outdoor recreation.

Some practical advice I’ve heard from the experts includes:

• Find an air-conditioned place, such as a movie theatre, to get out of the heat and smoke.
• Utilize a gym rather than exercising outdoors if you’re able. If not, then plan your exercise for times where the smoke is not as bad.
• Consider buying a HEPA air purifier to clean your indoor air. 
• When considering whether to cancel outdoor sporting events, consider the health of everyone on the team, not just those with low risk. 

I typically stay in during the heat of the day when smoke is often at its worst. I plan to exercise in the morning when it’s still cool. When I exercise outdoors, I remind myself it’s okay to go slower than usual and not get too winded. Particulate matter (PM) from smoke can harm the lungs and cause damage to the body. Even those in the low-risk category should be mindful about what you’re doing outside and limit exposure. 

Take this time to relax indoors, read a book, get caught up on house cleaning, or whatever else suits your fancy.

Where can I find wildfire information?

Finally, the official source of wildfire information is Inciweb. Not all fires will be on here as the small ones that get extinguished quickly will not be. However, more significant, ongoing fires will be. Often those fires are being managed by Incident Management Teams and have public information officers who update Inciweb daily. 

Local Sheriff’s work closely with the IMT’s so they know when to issue evacuation orders. Sheriff’s offices will often post evacuation information on their Facebook pages. Follow these pages for official evacuation information. The teams will then share the Sheriff’s information and amplify their messages.

You can often find information regarding evacuation shelters or other community needs on County web pages or County Disaster and Emergency Management Facebook pages.

The bottom line is to make sure the information you’re reading is from an official source. I have seen misinformation spread like, uh, wildfire. By the time it gets to us, it is nowhere near accurate, so know where to find official information.

Final Thoughts

Prevent wildfires. Several lightning busts a year cause hundreds of wildfires, yet around 80% are human-caused. Don’t be that person. Check out how to prevent wildfires.

The responsibility is on all of us to do our part to prevent wildfires. The fewer wildfires we have, the less smoke we will have. Firefighting resources are stretched thin as fire seasons are longer in duration. 

All of the crews working so hard to protect you, your family, and your property also have families they want to go home to. Please be patient as fire managers determine the best approach for managing these fires. Firefighter and public safety is always the number one priority.

Often, it is not about letting it burn. There are not enough resources, combined with unfavorable weather conditions, to put a fire out. So they manage them until the weather changes, trying to keep them away from homes and communities. 

There are many great reasons to live in the West, but some aren’t as great, and our new “normal” wildfire season is one of those. We are in this together, and residents and visitors alike should do their part to support fire suppression efforts, not start wildfires, and take care of themselves.