With wildfire smoke season here, we all need to think about air quality inside where we spend most of our time. This article provides multiple examples measuring the air quality inside my home from wildfire smoke and cooking.
Currently if King County WA needs to produce an evacuation map they only do so as a PDF. County emergency management (EM) staff says it would be very expensive to have county GIS staff produce an interactive evacuation map.
I volunteered to write data conversion code (geojson > kmz) so King County WA could use Google maps as an interactive evacuation map.
EM staff says policy prohibits them from using outside help that is not officially approved. So I contacted county procurement asking how I can get approved as a volunteer consultant. See pic for their reply. #PNW#EmergencyManagement#Wildfire 🙄 🤦♂️
Summer is almost upon us, and Canada is already on fire, so I guess it's time to share this again: my guide to the dangers of smoke, why you really don't want to breathe it, and how to get your air purifier situation set up before the smoke comes.
#Mexico, #Guatemala, #Belize all experiencing extreme record breaking heatwaves accompanied by widespread wildfires and smoke danger. (Image 1 showing increased risk of heat-humidity stress days as we continue to heat)
Instrument readings:
+1.63ºC 12-month running mean above preindustrial (Berkeley Earth/ERA5 datasets)
+1.3ºC latest 5-year average above preindustrial
can confirm. family worked in the wildfire management business for 25 years, back when you could make a living doing it, and retire with a good pension. staff now face a depressing reality.
1/_ 🧵 Many counties (including mine - King County WA) use the CodeRed system for alerting people about a wildfire evacuation. Recently I traded email with county staff and got some details about how this works.
If your county’s emergency management web page shows they use CodeRed then there should be a signup link. When you signup, enter your address or use the map by dragging the marker, zooming in and repeating until the marker is where you live.
If my area is ordered to evacuate then I want to get that message by every means possible. We have a landline so I entered our “Home phone” number, my cell number and my main email address that I check the most often. #PNW#Wildfire
Usually soggy King County WA (county seat - Seattle) is hiring for a Community Wildfire Protection Planner. Good! Nice to see local officials taking wildfire risk seriously. #PNW#Wildfire
La saison des feux commence et l'été devrait battre tous les records de chaleur. J'ai pensé acheter un masque pour courir. Et je m'enlignais vers le Respro Ultra-light. Avez-vous déjà couru avec un tel masque ? Est-ce supportable ?
This is your reminder that the smoke from forest fires is not just tree smoke.
It's smoke from burnt buildings, burnt vehicles, burnt animals, and everything the fire has destroyed in its path.
Check air quality often (several times a day) and be prepared to protect yourself and loved ones, including your pets, if need be.
Thousands of residents in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo have been ordered to leave their homes as a wildfire burning southwest of Fort McMurray continues to draw closer to the community.