Wildfire smoke is everywhere. It gets in your house, car and even your clothes if it’s too dense. We, in the western US, can tell its mid to late summer when smoke starts to fill the air. It used to be for just a week or two but now it’s months. It makes life difficult for many who have breathing problems or in ill health. Many of us, firefighters who have been exposed over many years, become very sensitive to the smoke. We can tell you when the smoke is coming before the weather folks. My first large exposure to thick smoke was the Fire Storm of 1987. The smoke became trapped in the Klamath River valley. We had to go into oxygen tent that was set up just to clear our lungs every few days. It is funny, there was study on the effects of smoke on our lungs for about two years before the money quietly went away. Politicians’ didn’t want know, they just wanted us to put the fires out. 

There are those who think purple mountain majesties are from mist coming off planets in the Appalachians in the song America the Beautiful. Those of us in fire will tell you the purple haze is wildfire smoke traveling it the atmosphere then settling in the valleys. It makes for beautiful sunrises and sunsets, the deep orange or red glow of the sun. The smoke particulates creating deeper colors than normal for both sunrise and sunset. The pictures of deep purples, blues that are indigo and then the reds and oranges even more dramatic if there is a smoke column rising behind the sun. Then it’s an eerie view of the apocalypse.

I cringe when I see families outdoors in unhealthy to hazardous smoke. You are not helping your children’s lungs grow but filling the with all the junk that had burned in these fires out west. Trees, brush, houses, vehicles, chemicals and other things all floating in the air. You are breathing this toxic mess every time you take a breath. Take the little ones, especially your newborn inside, this is not a place for them to be. I have learned the hard way not to go up to parents to say this. Most don’t take kindly to strangers warning them of the dangers of the air for their children. Hell, even my own children don’t want to listen to my concerns for my grandchildren. It’s hard thing to learn that people don’t want counsel or advice even to protect their little ones health. It’s not grandma’s job to warn us about what might hurt her grandchildren, you are just supposed to be nice and bring presents not warnings of harm.     

I watched this year as fires burned all the way up to the arctic circle in Norway, Ireland, Scotland and other environments that aren’t used to fire. The climate deniers say it’s just fuel loading, no logging, no treatments or invasive weeds from landscaping. That might work in the US but in Edinburgh not so much. People will need to get use to smoke every summer, in all hemispheres. Almost every bit of this plant we live on, where there is land can burn. Remember lava is fire too.

It’s interesting to watch those who decried masking for Covid, now have several masks for their faces. Mother nature’s covid might be smoke. There are health impacts for many with smoke. More than most will know. Firefighters know this as cancer rates for all types are through the roof. Ash is found in smoke. When you are close enough to a large fire you will get ash fall on your cars, patios and roofs. Ash can coat many things near fires and it is just as toxic and dangerous to breath. At least here in Spokane, the authorities are telling folks who lost their home about the dangers of ash and smoke. Recommending people wear the N95 mask if not respirators. I am glad to see that. It has been a long time coming.

Talking with folks in town here in Spokane and then back in Montana, everyone is learning about the Crud. That is what we wildland firefighters have been calling it for decades. When your lungs are continuously filled with smoke you get tired, dragged down, then you get the Crud cold which morphs in to a dry cough or sneezing fits. Eventually you get enough smoke and you start hacking black crap out of your lungs and throat. Everything is very dry, your skin, lips, throat and hair. You can feel the smoke suck the moisture out of your body especially when it’s smokey and hot with low humidities that are fueling the fires.  It is a lingering cold and cough that will go into fall. Some get bronchitis and some pneumonia. Time to power down vitamin C and zinc, you remember those from Covid well we firefighter have been using them to stave off the worst of the Crud for decades.

Yes citizens of the US and Canada then eventually Europe, it’s time for the fires of summer leading to smoke filled skies and beautiful sunsets.