Air quality alert issued as smoke lingers above Montana

HELENA (AP) — The Montana Department of Environmental Quality issued an air quality alert Monday for a large swath of western and south-central Montana as smoke from local and regional fires continues to blanket the state.

The alert is in effect until further notice for Big Horn, Carbon, Lake, Lincoln, Mineral, Missoula, Rosebud, Sanders and Yellowstone counties.

The alert means that particulate concentrations in the air are trending upwards. As of Monday morning, air quality in Libby and Thompson Falls was unhealthy and in Billings, Birney-Broadus and Seeley Lake it was unhealthy for sensitive groups.

When air quality is unhealthy, health officials recommend that people with respiratory or heart disease, the elderly and children should avoid prolonged exertion, and everyone else should limit prolonged exertion.