Missoula Air Update
Smoky Skies: Missoula’s Haze From Out-of-State Fires
By Amy Linn, 8-03-09
Missoula’s air quality deteriorated between this morning and this afternoon, and as of 2 p.m. was listed as “moderate.” (To check air quality at the Health Department’s web page, click here.) The Missoula City-County Health Department said this afternoon that the smoky haze in the city air is from wildfires in British Columbia, Alaska, Washington and Oregon, as well as from smaller fires in Idaho and Montana.
The health department says “very sensitive” individuals might want to consider limiting their exposure and avoid prolonged exertion outside.
Air quality in the region could “continue to deteriorate throughout the day,” the Health Department website says. For hourly air quality data from the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, click here.
Editor’s note: this story is an update.
[End of article]
I checked NIFC's Inciweb last night, there are two whackin-big fires in Alaska, the Railbelt and Crazy Mountain complexes. Combined acreage is over 800,000, in what looks to be mostly taiga.
The Railbelt has doubled in size in the last week or so, and the Crazy thing wasn't even on Inciweb five days ago.
So why would any Federal forest manager allow fires to burn without an attempt to suppress them "as fire for resource use?" There are serious health risks from smoke. That is what it is all about in this air pollution, kill a car, ride a bike deal. I have this huge, unanswered question how the USFS can allow fire to burn at will with not NEPA requirements met, no consultations with the EPA over air quality, water quality. Boggles my mind. A frigging ten acre clear cut needs all that to happen before a tree can be cut. But these fires burn acres by the thousands, with no such requirements. But, when you can't be sued to stop the practice, and you can't be sued if your fire leaves public lands and burns private lands, I guess it is just another jackboot on the neck from our Nanny State leadership. And the horse you rode in on....
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