BILLINGS, Mont. — Smoke has been hanging over much of Montana despite only one active large wildfire burning in the state.
Much of the haze comes from large wildfires in Washington, Oregon and Canada. Shifting winds carried that smoke into Montana and affected visibility and air quality across the state.
In Billings, officials said the smoke had not caused major problems for daily operations. Leaders at Billings Logan International Airport said visibility remains strong enough for flights to continue as usual.
“It really has to be pretty close to the airport to get to a visibility level where it impacts the airport itself. We have great instrumentation here and that really helps if there are different layers in the air as an aircraft is coming into the airport,” said Jeff Roach, director of aviation and transit for the City of Billings.
The Billings Fire Department also said it had not seen a rise in smoke-related emergency calls.
“We haven’t had any big fires really super close here yet that has that real nice, fresh, smelly smoke that seems close when people think that it’s, you know, if if their perception is that there’s a fire close and the smoke smells and it’s strong, then we’ll start to get calls on the on that,” said Kevin Bentz, assistant chief of the Billings Fire Department.
Officials said people with asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and other respiratory conditions are urged to keep checking air quality and spend less time outside when smoke levels rise.