Wildfires and Air Quality

Submitted by digbutt t3_y0jt90 in Washington

Just looking for some advice here. I’m coming to Washington and staying in Gold Bar this Friday though the following week. I see that the air quality and wildfires are really bad around that area right now. What should I expect? Will we be in danger staying there? I’ve never been to the PNW so I don’t know what to expect or how to prepare.

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lurker-1969 t1_irs9ydm wrote

Gold Bar is right there so you will have major smoke issues. No rain in sight for at least 10 days.

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digbutt OP t1_irsagb6 wrote

What kind of issues? Just poor air quality?

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intrepidated t1_irshpin wrote

I think that's an understatement. Basically it'll be unhealthy to be outside at all. But it's not like you're going to get evacuated - fire lines are keeping the fire from heading towards any populated areas so it's burning off in the other direction. Road closures will be your other main issue as burned trees and rocks tumble down from the hills.

Reality is - if you have an option to not go, then don't. Why put up with all that? You're not going to enjoy it.

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hoehater t1_irsijpt wrote

Those road closures are out towards skykomish as is the fire. The fire isn’t quite as close to gold bar as everybody thinks.

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intrepidated t1_irsqyfn wrote

Yeah, I wasn't thinking in Gold Bar itself (I mean, Gold Bar is like 2 blocks long lol). More like if they wanted to head east to do anything, road closure could be a problem. Air quality is bad everywhere, and particularly bad in that specific area given how close the fire is. We cancelled our camping trip in Chelan (from the west) simply because we didn't want to deal with any of that and have no idea if the air quality will be red or green those days.

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Huge_Requirement9200 t1_irshnn5 wrote

There were wildfire evacuations just up the road in Index not too long ago. Thing can go sideways quickly. Friends in the area are saying that aqi is regularly in 300-400 range via purple air. If the purpose of your trip is recreational I'd cancel.

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hoehater t1_irsgzdd wrote

It’s bad, but it’s not THAT bad. Smells like campfire and the air is hazy.

We live in the area and have been fine… it was really bad the first couple of days after the fire started when we could barely see a few hundred feet, the sky was dark, and it was raining ash.

The haze is barely a minor annoyance unless you have major breathing problems like uncontrolled asthma or COPD.

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ColorTheSkyTieDye t1_irssjg0 wrote

I would say even mild asthma will cause you trouble. I’m all the way over in Seattle and the air quality has been causing me problems with my VERY mild asthma. Also everyone I know has had a persistent headache for the past 2 weeks from the smoke.

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