On the second floor of the Missoula Public Library, just past the stairs sits a bookcase.
“We have a little corner here, and it's our air quality corner,” say Kerri Mueller.
Mueller is an air quality specialist with Missoula’s health department. She points out shelves lined with infographics about air quality measurements, like the rainbow color scale: red for bad air, green for healthy, and so on.
"We have information and education about wildfire smoke, how you can become wildfire smoke ready, which includes a DIY air cleaner," Mueller says.
It’s a box fan with a fine particulate filter taped onto one side, an affordable option for filtering indoor air. This space was created by Mueller and Amy Cilimburg with Climate Smart Missoula, after the particularly bad fire season in 2017 filled the valley with smoke.
"The more we learn about smoke, the more we know it is really dangerous and unhealthy for everyone," Cilimburg says.
The library is equipped with air filtration that keeps the indoor air clean even when skies are smoky. According to data from NASA, wildfire seasons are lasting longer as a result of human-caused climate change. Longer smoke events are projected to continue, despite seasonal fluctuations.
"We don't know what this summer is going to bring, but we do want to be prepared," Cilimburg says.
The library also set up spaces at their branches in Seeley Lake and Lolo. It’s part of a statewide effort to establish clean air hubs funded by the Montana Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Cilimburg explains.
"We've got this website, montanawildfiresmoke.org that will show people where all these clean air centers are across this part of the state," Cilimburg explains.
She and Mueller hope these free, clean air spaces will provide a safe place to get away from smoky skies this summer.
