Air Time: Oregon wildfires spur smoke warning

By Seth Preston, Communications Manager, Air Quality Program

Smoke from Oregon wildfires prompted the National Weather Service to issue a hazardous weather outlook for today (Tuesday, Aug. 30) in parts of central and eastern Washington.

Smoke is blowing into the Yakima Valley, the Columbia Basin and other areas. When smoke is in the air, you can do a number of things to protect your health. You can find that information in this earlier Air Time blog post.

You also can take steps to limit other kinds of air pollution while increased amounts of smoke are present. Some ideas:

• Drive less. Combine errands or use public transportation.
  
  
• Don’t use lawnmowers or other small engines that emit air pollutants.
  
  
• Observe bans on outdoor burning because of high fire danger and health protection.
  
  
• Don’t idle your engine. Turn it off while your vehicle is parked or waiting in line.

You can track current conditions in the Columbia River Gorge by checking this U.S. Forest Service web camera near Wishram in Klickitat County.

You can follow firefighting efforts here.

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