How Stay Safe From Wildfire Smoke In Washington This Summer

SEATTLE, WA — Just this week, wildfires have broke out in Redmond, Des Moines, and Gig Harbor. In Eastern Washington, the National Weather Service issued a red flag warning due to high winds that had the potential to spread fire.

Those incidents are just a taste of what is expected to be another bad wildfire season in Washington and Puget Sound. The Seattle-Tacoma area is in a severe drought, and a weak El Niño in the Pacific Ocean means a reduced chance of rain this summer — meanwhile, just .81 inches of rain has fallen at Sea-Tac Airport so far in June, but 1.57 inches is normal, according to the NWS.

Local governments are trying to prepare Puget Sound residents for wildfire season. This week, a number of agencies, including the state Department of Health and the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency (PSCAA), held a wildfire smoke safety seminar in Seattle. Here are some tips they shared:

Stay updated on local air quality conditions. The best place to do that is at the PSCAA website, which tracks air quality in Pierce, King, and Snohomish counties.

If you're able, buy an air filter mask. The ones to get are rated N-95 or N-100. Find out more about those from the FDA.

Get a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter, preferably one with charcoal. See the EPA's Indoor Air Filtration fact sheet to learn more.

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