As we enter September, it feels like our wildfire season is winding down, or maybe even coming to an end. With cooler nights and some moisture and humidity in the air, we have seen many of our local fires, as well as those in Washington and Oregon, improve in terms of containment and smoke production. But as the saying goes, we aren’t out of the woods yet.
That makes this a good time to look back at the work we did this summer through our three Clean Air Centers here in Flathead County. Last week, we held pop-up events at the Columbia Falls Community Center, Gateway Community Center in Kalispell, and Whitefish Community Library to introduce residents to these new community resources and share practical ways to improve indoor air quality.
The events included demonstrations on building low-cost DIY air cleaners, information and activities for families, free filters, and a raffle for a HEPA air purifier. Working with our community partners, we also helped provide 18 HEPA filtration units to low-income households. Meanwhile, the Clean Air Centers themselves have made improvements to their HVAC systems to better protect their patrons when smoke returns.
Most importantly, these events gave us an opportunity to connect with the people and organizations that make the Clean Air Center program possible. The goal isn’t simply to provide a place to escape the smoke when air quality deteriorates. It’s to build a community that is better prepared for the next smoke event and better equipped to protect the people most vulnerable to its impacts.
Read the full summary of our Clean Air Center pop-up events and see what we accomplished together this summer.