I've got family right smack dab in the middle of the Quartz Creek fire in MT. The haven't left, I've tried to get them to head to Denver, but I can understand they don't want to leave, my fear is by the time they do it'll be too late.

They own some earth moving/excavating equipment, so I'm pretty sure they've setup a good fire break around the homestead. Yesterday their viability was at 500' . Hardy folk, those Montanans.

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The secret of a long life is you try not to shorten it.
-Nobody

Had to look that one up. They are in stage 2 evac which is pre-evac (interesting learning experience on fire stages, evac stages, etc for me). Good news for them is they are reporting 90% of the fire borders being under control. I'd say VERY hardy folks over there. There was an interesting piece I'll have to dig up later recently written by someone in western MT. Main point was the attention Harvey folks are getting in TX while Montana has essentially been on fire for months w/absolutely no federal aid. It was done in a tactful/thoughtful way as to not take away from what's going on in TX but a very interesting point I had not considered. Just snagged it linked here.

The info I found on the Quartz Creek fire.


If memory serves you're originally from CDA. Wondering if you remember the fire seasons being this bad back in the 80s/90s? Granted we were in Chicago 2003-2016 so have not had a front seat to the evolution but I don't recall these type of fire conditions. Worst thing I can remember is simply the ag fields being burned annually.


To be fair though I grew up in Post Falls so we were likely just too busy huffing gas and plotting to steal CDA women (I was successful!).

Back down to 246. It's sad when that feels relieving to me. I live maybe 6-8 miles as the crow flies from mica peak (washington, though they share the same ridgeline essentially) and can't see it. Looking across my neighborhood park the houses on the other side look like 75 percent "opacity," if that makes sense.

Yep, originally from CDA, but I left the NW area altogether in 1989, just visit now when I can. I spent a ton of summer time in PF at my aunt and uncle's farm out on Harmon Road. The only fires I really remember were the controlled burns all around. Maybe the occasional blaze out by Lake CDA but nothing of this magnitude.

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The secret of a long life is you try not to shorten it.
-Nobody

In BC we've been using a "1-10" scale where 1-3 is low risk, 4-6 moderate risk, 7-10 high risk and above 10 is extremely high. I'm not sure how this translates to the scale you reference, but my wimpy-ass lungs couldn't handle it when Vancouver was at 7 or 8 for two weeks.

I just had to bail on a super cool volunteer opportunity for work because I'm afraid the air quality in the province's interior will be too bad for me to travel there. Kamloops was at 49 on the above scale earlier this summer.

At home I have a dehumidifier with a hepa filter and that makes a big difference. The HVAC system at work seems to bring nothing but smoke into the building, I swear it's better air quality outside work than in right now!

Yeah ... it sucks.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/...eoesophageal_fistula
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerebral_palsy
2020 National Masters Champion - M40-44 - 400m IM
Canadian Record Holder 35-39M & 40-44M - 200 m Butterfly (LCM)

We drove from Calgary to San Diego this summer. Smoke from here to Utah.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/...eoesophageal_fistula
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerebral_palsy
2020 National Masters Champion - M40-44 - 400m IM
Canadian Record Holder 35-39M & 40-44M - 200 m Butterfly (LCM)

It reached over 400 in SW OR parts of Mon/Tues. All our outside activities got cancelled and pool closed (son lifeguards; daughter had a water polo game scheduled). It's looked and smelled bad for quite awhile, but it got really bad when the creosote taste started lingering in your mouth around the clock.

And, only cuz I'm too lazy to take it over to the Cry Like a Biatch thread ~ Worst part is all the ash peppering the dash/upholstery of the new (to me) car I just got last week... :(

That sucks but it's not the main one smoking out Spokane. There are roughly 175 fires burning out west right now. Word is the one closest to the Skipjack Estate was started by college kids out shooting firearms and being careless. Many others (specifically Montana and around the Clearwater region in Idaho) were started by lightening.

Rain should be coming later this week but good chance it's accompanied by lightning..

Still 272 in Spokane. Word is improvement is coming in the next day or two?

My Honeywell Hepa air filter thingy just got here. Maybe it's placebo (and I don't care if it is) but my room feels the best in the house. Looking forward to be able to go outside again.

I went and took pictures the other day just to document what it's like and editing them sucked. You can't really make pictures look good when it's an orange haze in front of you everywhere you look (:
Maybe I'll post a few in a couple minutes

 Not the best photos but I have more, just a cruddy orange haze

Been super hazy the last few days up in Victoria. Like, you're able to look directly at the sun type hazy.

But I just got home from a run and it was raining!! Just a sprinkle, but hopefully enough to knock the smoke down.

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Long Chile was a silly place.

It rained! Just a little bit, but enough to knock the smoke down just a little. Air quality index now 216.

The bummer though is if the rain registered at the airport then we were one day shy of tying the record for our longest dry spell.
2nd place ain't bad I suppose