Wildfire smoke prompts air-quality alert

Wildfire smoke pouring into Western Montana prompted an air quality alert for 25 counties on Saturday.

The Montana Department of Environmental Quality issued the alert for not only Flathead, Lake, Lincoln and Sanders counties, but also Beaverhead, Broadwater, Cascade, Deer Lodge, Fergus, Gallatin, Glacier, Granite, Jefferson, Judith Basin, Lewis and Clark, Madison, Meagher, Mineral, Missoula, Park, Pondera, Powell, Ravalli, Silver Bow and Teton counties.

Air quality on Saturday afternoon was “very unhealthy” in Missoula, Hamilton, and Butte, “unhealthy” in Libby, Frenchtown, Helena, and Bozeman, “unhealthy for sensitive groups” in St. Mary, the Flathead Valley, Great Falls, Lewistown and Seeley Lake and “moderate” in Malta, Billings and Sidney.

The smoke is coming from not only Montana fires but also large fires burning in Idaho, particularly the 32.000-acre Clearwater Complex in the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest.

Some smoke impacts are expected to persist through Monday morning, according to the state smoke advisory.

A new air-quality monitor has been set up in St. Mary on the eastern edge of Glacier National Park because it’s downwind of the Thompson Fire in the park. A similar monitor is being set up in Browning.