EDITORIAL: Smoky skies illustrate need for fire precautions

Posted 8/25/15

We are grateful that the fire season here has been mild, and we hope that continues. We’ve certainly seen our share of wildfires in past years, and we have no desire to repeat that experience. 

With the exception of Utah, all the states to our …

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EDITORIAL: Smoky skies illustrate need for fire precautions

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So far this summer, we have been fortunate that only one wildfire, the 1,700-acre Sheep Creek Fire, has occurred in forests in northwest Wyoming. 

We are grateful that the fire season here has been mild, and we hope that continues. We’ve certainly seen our share of wildfires in past years, and we have no desire to repeat that experience. 

With the exception of Utah, all the states to our west and south are experiencing a much more intense fire season. 

Locally, the smoke in our sky, so dense some days that it filters out much of the sunlight and turns the horizon a dark gray, is the most noticeable effect. It is unpleasant, and it’s a serious health concern, especially for older adults and people who have chronic heart or lung problems. 

Most of the smoke in the air here is coming from Washington, Oregon and Idaho, where fires are burning out of control, forcing evacuations, destroying homes and business, threatening lives and stretching firefighting resources to the limit.

Last week, three firefighters lost their lives when their vehicle crashed and was overrun by the fire they had been battling near Twisp, Washington. Four others were injured when they escaped the fire on foot. Our hearts go out to the families of the fallen firefighters and to those who are suffering.  

As of Sunday, a complex of wildfires in north-central Washington had scorched a total of 374 square miles and put so much smoke in the air that flight restrictions were necessary.  

The largest fire in Washington, the Okanogan Fire, had burned 239,733 acres as of Sunday, and another fire, the North Star, had burned 147,000 acres. By comparison, the largest fire in Yellowstone in 1988, the North Fork Fire, burned a total of 410,000 acres. 

A week ago, families were left homeless when 50 homes were destroyed by the Lawyer Complex in the small rural town of Kamiah in northern Idaho. As of Sunday evening, that fire complex had burned 45,973 acres. Equally destructive was the Clearwater Complex, burning to the southwest of the Lawyer Complex.

Meanwhile, the Soda Fire, the largest fire burning in the West, had consumed 285,361 acres in western Idaho and western Oregon, and the Canyon Creek Complex in northeast Oregon had blackened 69,606 acres as of Sunday. 

These are just a few — though some of the worst — of the wildfires burning in the West this summer. 

Firefighting resources are stretched thin, and another month or two of the fire season remain. While there were no fire restrictions in our area as of Sunday, high temperatures in the 80s and 90s are forecast for the next 10 days or more, and vegetation will continue to dry out. 

That is illustrated in Montana, which has experienced an increase in fire activity in recent days and weeks.   

As of Sunday, there were no fire restrictions in our area, but we still need to take commonsense precautions to prevent human-caused fires. 

Campers and others recreating in area forests and public lands should ensure that fires are contained and attended, and that the fires are completely out, without any heat remaining, before leaving them. 

People using chainsaws and four-wheelers also should take precautions to prevent sparks that could start fires. 

We must be prudent in our use of fire to avoid any human-caused wildfires to further strain limited firefighting resources in the West. 

Meanwhile, it’s likely smoke will continue to affect the air quality in our area, at least part of the time, until fall and winter snows put out the fires burning in the West. 

The Wyoming Health Department previously provided the following guidelines for people who are vulnerable to health problems caused by breathing smoke in the air:

• Try to keep windows and doors closed.

• Keep the fresh-air intake closed and the filter clean if you run an air conditioner.

• Seek shelter elsewhere if you do not have an air conditioner and it is too warm to stay inside with the windows closed.

• When smoke levels are high, do not use anything that burns, such as candles, fireplaces or gas stoves.

• Do not vacuum, because vacuuming stirs up particles already inside your home.

• Do not smoke, because smoking puts even more pollution into the air. 

There is one bright side — literally. Though unwelcome, the added smoke often heightens the beauty of our already gorgeous sunrises and sunsets. We invite you to watch the colorful display, and to remember that summer is all too short. Let’s enjoy it while we can. 

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