Latest smoke forecast. Hazardous air here to stay ‘til Friday

The air in the Tri-Cities is expected to be so smoky that it will remain hazardous through noon Friday, says the Benton Clean Air Agency.

Monday was the fourth day in a row local air quality was classified as hazardous.

Most Hanford workers are being told to stay home again Tuesday for a second day, with some schools that are offering limited in-person classes making similar announcements Monday afternoon.

The Pasco School District also canceled all meals distributions on Tuesday and is planning to give students three days of lunches and breakfasts on Wednesday to last them through the week.

The Benton Franklin Health District said no drive-thru COVID testing would be done Tuesday at the HAPO Center in Pasco by the Washington National Guard to protect them from the bad air.

Even though smoke is forecast to begin clearing Friday afternoon, enough smoke is expected to continue to hang over the Tri-Cities for air to be rated as unhealthy, the clean air agency said.

The National Weather Service also has extended its air quality alert for the Tri-Cities through Friday noon.

“Sad to say, the clearing that should have been here by now is not only tardy but is poofing out as a lackluster weather feature that won’t do much for us,” said Ranil Dhammapala, of the Washington state Department of Ecology, writing on the Washington Smoke blog.

Smoke is coming from wildfires in Oregon and could get a little worse on Tuesday, according to the Department of Ecology’s smoke forecast for Tuesday.

Significant relief could come as a new weather system moves into the state of Washington with winds from the north and possible showers on Friday. Only a slight chance of rain is forecast for the Tri-Cities.

The Tri-Cities had been getting smoke from the Cold Springs fire to the north near Omak when the wind previously blew from the north, but firefighters have been making progress in putting it out. It was 50% contained Monday morning and had burned 188,852 acres.

Students, workers stay home

Some private schools that had started in-class learning told students to stay home Monday because of the poor air quality.

They included Christ the King School in Richland and Kingspoint Christian School in Pasco. The Paterson School District also did not hold in-person classes.

Kennewick and Pasco public schools reacted by canceling meal and homework delivery Monday, although meals could be picked up at some schools. In the Kennewick School District on-site remote learning support and YMCA on-site child care were canceled.

Book giveaways this week throughout the Tri-Cities to mark Read with a Child Week have been postponed by the Children’s Reading Foundation.

Hanford nuclear reservation workers, many of them already teleworking because of the COVID-19 pandemic, were told to stay home swing and night shift on Sunday and not to report to work on any shifts Monday unless their jobs were essential to immediate site safety.

Those already working from home continued to work from home.

The Mid-Columbia Libraries canceled curb-side pickup at its libraries Sunday and Monday.

A layer of ash covered parked cars in some locations Sunday afternoon and Monday in the Tri-Cities area.

Air quality alert

While the air quality had been so bad that it topped off the Department of Ecology’s rating scale of 1 to 500 on Saturday, it ranged from about 350 to close to 400 from early Sunday morning into Monday afternoon. Any rating above 300 is considered hazardous.

The National Weather Service lifted its dense smoke advisory on Monday for the Tri-Cities area, as some improvement in visibility for drivers was noted, but continued the air quality alert.

• Visibility of as little as a quarter mile had gradually improved starting Sunday to a half mile in parts of the Mid-Columbia with drivers still advised to keep their lights on.
• Safety tips
• When air quality is rated as hazardous, people with heart or lung disease should ask their healthcare provider if they should leave the area, according to the Department of Ecology. Anyone with serious symptoms from the smoke, such as shortness of breath, irregular heartbeat or chest pain, should get medical help immediately.
• The state departments of health and ecology give these additional tips to protect your health:
• Close your windows and doors to reduce intake of smoke. However, ventilation is good for helping prevent COVID-19, so when air quality is good, open them to get fresh air and reduce potential viral load.
• Improve filtration of indoor air in your home and create a clean air room where you spend most of your time. Making your own box fan filter can be a less expensive option to filter air and improve indoor air quality in a single room. Filtering indoor air is an effective way to reduce fine particles from wildfire smoke.
• Wear your cloth face covering to slow the spread of COVID-19. While cloth face coverings may help a small amount with smoke, they won’t filter out the fine particles or hazardous gasses. N95 respirators, if fitted and worn properly, can reduce exposure to wildfire smoke, but as the supply remains limited, these need to be reserved for workers that are required to wear them for their job.

This story was originally published September 14, 2020 at 4:13 PM with the headline "Latest smoke forecast. Hazardous air here to stay ‘til Friday."