Seeley Lake Battles More Smoke Than Flames

SEELEY LAKE – Missoula City-County Health Department issued recommendations Aug. 9 to avoid the dangerous wildfire smoke in Seeley Lake. Recent air monitoring readings have shown record levels of PM2.5 concentrations in Seeley Lake due to the Rice Ridge Fire and other wildfires in the west. Health officials recommend Seeley Lake residents and visitors take precautions especially at night when particulate levels climb into the Unhealthy and Hazardous categories.

Between Aug. 1-11, air quality in Seeley Lake hit Hazardous levels nine times during the night with several days off the charts. At 7 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 15, the one-hour average PM2.5 measurement was 480 μg/m3 and continued to climb for a couple more hours until the inversion broke. The Hazardous category includes visibility less than 1.3 miles and particulate concentrations of greater than 250.4 μg/m3. The monitor in Seeley Lake registered PM 2.5 levels more than 1,000 μg/m3 in the past two weeks.

Air Quality Specialist Sarah Coefield said the numbers get less reliable once they're over 600-700 μg/m3, and the monitor reads particulate levels above 900 μg/m3, as error codes.

"As a result, the crazy high numbers in Seeley Lake are causing the machine to think it's seeing errors," wrote Coefield in an email

Smoke from the Rice Ridge fire is going to continue funneling in Seeley Lake every night. Because it gets trapped in the valley and doesn't lift until the ground heats enough to push the air up, resident are at risk of serious health effects - particularly those who are vulnerable to particulate pollution including children, adults older than 65, pregnant women and anyone with heart or lung disease. Health effects can include reduced lung function, heart attack and stroke.

"The most effective way to protect yourself from this type of wildfire smoke is to leave the area," wrote the Health Department in the press release. "Seeley Lake residents who do not wish to pre-evacuate should consider spending the night and morning away from town and returning to their properties after the worst smoke has lifted."

Health Department Recommendations:

• Spend as little as time in the Seeley Lake area as possible.

- If you must be in Seeley Lake during the day, leave the area at night. The worst smoke is gathering overnight and is entering buildings.

- Consider moving at-risk family members out of the area.

- If you do not have anywhere to go, the Red Cross has set up a shelter in the Potomac Valley. Anyone seeking to stay at the shelter may call the Red Cross of Montana at 1-800-272-6668.

• Summer practices for school athletic events should be canceled or moved to a different community with clean air.

- If practices are moved to an area with clean air, indoors is not sufficient, they should be low intensity. Student athletes who have been breathing hazardous levels of smoke at night will have compromised health and should not be exerting themselves until they're no longer subjected to daily smoke pollution."

• If you must stay in Seeley Lake, being inside does not provide adequate protection from the smoke. Improve your indoor air with:

- Air conditioning operating on "recirculate." The only time to switch off recirculate is when the air clears, which often happens during a few hours in the afternoon.

- An air filtering system equipped with a HEPA filter that is sized appropriately for the room you are occupying or sleeping in. HEPA air filtration units, also known as air purifiers, are portable appliances that filter out really tiny particulate matter (PM) - 2.5 microns and smaller. These ultrafine bits are the most common and dangerous component of wildfire smoke. The room with the filter needs to be sealed off from outside air. The HEPA filter must be rated to clean particulate pollution that is 0.3 microns in diameter or smaller.

• Do not rely on particle or surgical masks for protection. They provide no protection against the very small particles in from wildfire smoke.

Current particulate pollution levels are available online at http://svc.mt.gov/deq/todaysair/AirDataMap.aspx.