Forest Fire Smoke Pollutes The Seattle Air

August 14, 2018
Aleksey Weyman

Seattle, WA woke up on the morning of August 14th, 2018 to a crimson sky and visibility limited to just a few miles..

August marks a historically smokey season in many places on the west coast, due to an increase in fires across British Columbia, Oregon and California. This year though, is not expected to be as severe as 2017.

Based on the map below, which you can also view here, much of Washington is in an “unhealthy” state of air quality. Individuals with Asthma, COPD, Diabetes, and other heart or lung conditions should limit spending time outdoors.

Contrary to predictions of this year being less harmful than last however, globalnews.ca reports the fires currently in British Colombia are worse than record setting levels from 2017.

Infact it is so bad, that many areas of BC are under evacuation alert and ready to leave at a moments notice. There are currently 600 wild burning fires in British Colombia.

If we are to see clear blue skies by weeks end as expected, will only be a test of how quickly fires can be put out. On the opposite side of Seattle- California, a firefighter has died battling the Mendocino Complex fire.

This fire has burned for more than two weeks and destroyed nearly 150 homes and about 547 square miles of brush and forest, an area larger than the city of Los Angeles.

Seattle’s national weather service recently tweeted that by Thursday, the air should return to normal. Only time will tell.

With the proper amount of wind, smoke can easily travel hundreds of miles. You can keep up with the latest news about Seattle wildfire smoke on twitter.