Smoke from the Spokane Complex fires is dissipating, but wildfire season and health risks will stretch on

The dark cloud of smoke blanketing Spokane is starting to dissipate, but regional experts say health risks from the Spokane Complex fires may linger for months.

Spokane Regional Clean Air Agency spokeswoman Lisa Woodard and Spokane Regional Health District Director Dr. Francisco Velázquez joined The Spokesman-Review for a discussion Thursday on health and safety during and in the wake of the Old Trails, Autumn Lane and Fairview fires. The three blazes comprising the Spokane Complex ravaged nearly 10,000 acres, forced 65,000 residents to evacuate and spewed ash, smoke and toxins across the region.

A natural disaster mobilizes all sorts of government entities, including the health district. Velázquez, the top county official tasked with the safety and health of all residents, mobilized emergency response teams as soon as the fires began to assist human and animal victims.

The district brought healthcare providers and supplies to evacuees at the Spokane Convention Center and partnered with Washington State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine to provide care to livestock and pets at the Spokane County Fairgrounds. The agency worked hand in hand with a number of entities to provide aid in the days and weeks since.

“There are a lot of boots on the ground, and if you talk to the folks that have come from other parts of the country, that is their No. 1 observation: how amazing the collaboration and coordination in Spokane County has been,” Velázquez said.

Concern is a common emotion among Spokane residents as the recovery process begins, and Velázquez said there’s good reason. Anyone stuck under Spokane’s smog was exposed to “fine particulate” air pollution, which can have short- and long-term health effects.

There’s also a likelihood other pollutants entered the environment as the fires destroyed more than 900 homes, in addition to other structures, which could contain lead, asbestos and cancer-causing compounds like benzene and styrene.

“We have vegetation, we have densely urban populations, so we have households, commercials and other materials,” Velázquez said. “And that impacts the composition of the smoke and the composition of the ash.”

Homeowners in the Indian Trail Neighborhood who did not lose their homes returned to find lead contamination on doors, windows and inside their home, as reported by The Spokesman-Review.

On Tuesday, Velázquez issued a public health order that will allow the Environmental Protection Agency to remove immediate hazards from properties affected by the blaze, which includes old paint cans, propane tanks and batteries. The EPA is solely looking to clean what Velázquez described as obvious hazards in an attempt to ease the risk of returning home for evacuees.

“I mean, there’s so many things in the average garage that when they’re there, it’s safe,” Velázquez said. “But when they’re exposed to heat or fire, they can become quite either toxic, corrosive or explosive.”

With all Spokane County evacuation orders now lifted, residents in the areas affected by the three fires are returning to find one of three realities: an unscathed property, some slight damage or a home reduced to rubble. Each brings unique health concerns and potential hazards, he said.

For example, permeable food containers untouched by fire may still be contaminated with smoke. Carelessly wandering through a destroyed property will kick up ash and pollutants, and without the proper equipment, residents could expose themselves to dangerous irritants.

Velázquez wants residents returning home, regardless of their situation, to do three things: review the health district’s online guide on what to do in the wake of a wildfire, review asbestos abatement procedures overseen by the clean air agency and collect a complimentary PPE kit distributed by the American Red Cross.

“Even if you don’t see it, there could have been damage,” Velázquez said. “Structures that are partially, damaged, not completely damaged, there could be damage to trees … Be very mindful of your environment.”

The cleanup process will be lengthy, but both agencies learned lessons in the Oregon Road and Gray fires of 2023 that Woodard believes will only ease the process for victims of the three fires comprising the Spokane Complex.

Woodard stressed that homeowners facing a near or total loss are required to book a home inspection by a certified inspector to determine whether asbestos is in the waste before any debris is removed. Whether positive or negative, a homeowner needs to provide the results to the Spokane Regional Clean Air Agency in the form of a notice of intent. That notice will be required when filing for building permits down the road.

“It’s a lot, obviously, but it’s about protecting everybody,” Woodard said. “The homes, the families, the neighbors, the people that work at the solid waste stations; it’s about protecting people from uncontrolled exposure to asbestos because there’s no known safe level of asbestos exposure.”

On track for record-setting poor air quality; months before reprieve

It’s smaller than 2.5 micrometers. Regardless, fine particulate pollution can pack a punch, and there may be more on the horizon as the Pacific Northwest faces a historically devastating wildfire season.

The particles, smaller than a strand of hair, are thrown into the air most commonly by wood burning stoves, wildfires and vehicle emissions. When the particles are inhaled, they can travel deep into the respiratory tract and penetrate the lungs and bloodstream, where they can cause short- and long-term health problems.

Chronic exposure to fine particle pollution can increase the risks of strokes, coronary heart disease and death, according to the American Lung Association. As of Thursday, the region has experienced 11 consecutive days of air quality that failed to meet federal standards.

Spokane saw its worst air quality this month on Aug. 3, two days after the firestorm kicked off. Each morning, the Spokane Regional Clean Air Agency reviews the past 24 hours of readings from monitors across the region and determines the concentration of fine particulate pollution in the air.

A small house fire could throw smoke a few blocks, but wildfires tend to fill the region’s entire airshed with smoke, Woodard said. The agency’s daily calculations are an average of the entire area’s sensors, which all hovered around the same point on the air quality index.

“When we have what we typically have, which is smoke coming in from the region, even Canada, Oregon, is that it’s coming from such far distances that it really fills the whole airshed,” Woodard said.

Spokane could see a record for the most days with unhealthy air quality before the wildfire season ends. Readings failed to meet federal standards for three days in July, bringing the total to 14, just a few shy of the record of 16 days set in 2017, Woodard said.

Velázquez said the most important health precaution Spokane residents should take is to limit smoke exposure as much as possible, particularly sensitive groups like children and those with preexisting health conditions.

“You just have to look out the window and you see the haze,” Velázquez said. “… Masks do a really good job, so do the respirators to protect you from all of that smoke, cause eventually, all of us have to go outside sometime.”

Woodard said the agency is in the midst of a grant-funded project to develop “Smoke Ready Spokane,” which includes a website of the same name where locals can find resources on how to prepare for the remainder of wildfire season.

“The wildfire season is not over,” Woodard said.