Poor air quality could outlast weekend rain

Some days, the smoke is so thick that when Orville Baumjartner looks out his window, he can’t even see the mountains just east of his Columbia Falls home.

“This is pretty bad. I think it’s worse this year than other years,” he said. “It bothers my eyes. I just feel like I have to rub them all the time and pretty soon they start to burn.”

This year’s wildfire season has left a mark on both the landscape and the skies, leaving a persistent layer of smoke that has settled in the Flathead Valley for weeks.

A weekend rainstorm is expected to bring some relief, but likely won’t be enough to completely knock down the smoke and flames, said Mike Cole, a public information officer with the Northern Rockies Incident Management Team.

The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning for the Seeley Lake area and predicted a 100 percent chance of rain followed by snow beginning Thursday evening. The precipitation may help to quell the Rice Ridge Fire, which has currently torched more than 155,000 acres. Rain is also likely to hit Glacier National Park, where the nearly 16,000-acre Sprague fire has been burning for over a month, east of Lake McDonald.

“This probably isn’t a season-ending event,” Cole said. “We probably need three sets of rain with at least half an inch of rain to end this fire season, at least on the Rice Ridge Fire.”

So the smoke may be here to stay after all.

The sustained presence of wildlife smoke can be cause for concern. Smoke from forest fires contains carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, carcinogenic components and particulate matter. This past week saw three consecutive days of “very unhealthy” air quality levels, according to the DPHHS’s Today’s Air website.

The Montana Department of Health and Human Services found that short-term exposures — days to weeks — to the fine particles found in smoke are linked to increases in premature death and aggravation of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. Exposure to airborne pollutants can result in a persistent cough, wheezing, difficulty breathing and irritation to the eyes.

Carrie Bates, the director of respiratory services at North Valley Hospital in Whitefish, said the constant presence of smoke means people who are already at risk, namely those with cardiac or respiratory conditions, are at risk longer.

“I think the lungs and the heart do a really good job at compensating during this exposure but if you’re already taxed on that cardio pulmonary system, they’re going to work harder and people are going to get sick,” Bates said. “With the smokiness here for so long it just increases that risk that those populations are going to have trouble.”

She reported that North Valley hasn’t seen an influx of patients with smoke-related conditions; she’s seen just two patients on both Tuesday and Wednesday who came in because their current conditions were aggravated by smoke. Bates suspects the lack of patients with smoke-related ailments may be a result of at-risk populations heeding warnings to stay indoors.

The DPHHS reported that in general, the long-term risks of developing cancer or other chronic health problems from short-term exposure to wildlife smoke is quite low and most healthy children and adults will make quick recoveries from smoke exposure.

To fight the affects of smoke exposure, the DPHHS recommends staying inside whenever possible, using air conditioners, keep windows closed while driving and using air condition in “re-circulate” mode, if available. Limiting other sources of air pollution such as smoking tobacco, using wood-burning stoves, burning candles or incense and vacuuming, is also advisable. Face masks can help too, but paper or surgical masks aren’t enough — N95 particulate filtering face piece respirators are recommended. In order for the respirator to be effective, the mask must form a tight seal around the face, which often cannot be done with children or men with beards.

But not everyone has the option of escaping the smoke.

Public information officer Mike Cole said exposure to wildfire smoke is “kind of the name of the game in fire fighting.”

“It’s probably not good, I’ll just say that,” Cole said of sustained exposure firefighters endure. “I know we have about 30 to 40 cases a day with people with colds and coughs and congestion going into our medical unit at night.”

He said at least one firefighter on the Rice Ridge Fire had to undergo an albuterol treatment, which helps to open breathing passages, and another was sent home to Idaho with a case of bronchitis.

“You’re working in it all day, you’re sleeping in it all night,” he said.

To keep crews in tip-top shape, Cole said they stress staying hydrated, getting plenty of sleep and eating balanced meals. And when firefighters display signs of too much exposure, such as coughing and shortness of breath, they get checked out to make sure it’s not bronchitis.

“We can’t really afford to lose firefighters,” Cole said.

Reporter Mackenzie Reiss may be reached at 758-4433 or mreiss@dailyinterlake.com.