At Climate Smart Missoula, we help our community prepare for and respond to wildfire smoke through a variety of programs and in collaboration with many partners. From gathering local data to staying informed on the latest research, we've come to understand how critical it is to reduce exposure to wildfire smoke by creating clean indoor spaces in our homes, schools and daycares, workplaces, and public spaces.
Our work has focused on reaching those most vulnerable with practical resources for creating clean indoor air, such as providing HEPA portable air cleaners and DIY fan/filters through social service provider partners, door-to-door outreach in lower-income neighborhoods, and more. We also develop and maintain updated resources around health risks and what everyone can do to stay healthy when wildfire smoke arrives, and bring these resources to our community through events and outreach such as our annual collaborative Wildfire Smoke Ready Week.
Use the links below to our companion websites, where you can learn more about our past and current programs and find resources to create clean indoor air. To donate to support our Clean Air efforts and enable us to distribute HEPA filters and fan/filters to those in need, head to our Donate Page.
Our work has focused on reaching those most vulnerable with practical resources for creating clean indoor air, such as providing HEPA portable air cleaners and DIY fan/filters through social service provider partners, door-to-door outreach in lower-income neighborhoods, and more. We also develop and maintain updated resources around health risks and what everyone can do to stay healthy when wildfire smoke arrives, and bring these resources to our community through events and outreach such as our annual collaborative Wildfire Smoke Ready Week.
Use the links below to our companion websites, where you can learn more about our past and current programs and find resources to create clean indoor air. To donate to support our Clean Air efforts and enable us to distribute HEPA filters and fan/filters to those in need, head to our Donate Page.
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For our most comprehensive and updated information on wildfire smoke, visit our companion site: montanawildfiresmoke.org
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To learn how addressing wildfire smoke fits into our community's broader climate resiliency efforts, visit climatereadymissoula.org
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Looking for guidance on how you can improve indoor air quality in your home or workplace?
Click below to be redirected to our most updated resources.
Click below to be redirected to our most updated resources.
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What we've learned about indoor air quality & smoke
What factors affect indoor air quality?
A wide range of conditions and pollution sources combine to determine indoor air quality in a particular location. These can include:
Studies by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) indicate that indoor pollution levels may be two to five times higher than outdoor levels and are sometimes much higher. Yet when wildfire smoke creates unhealthy air outdoors, public health officials recommend staying indoors to avoid the health risks of wildfire smoke. Knowing how indoor air compares with outdoor air when it's smoky outside can help us make better decisions about how best to stay healthy as wildfires increase. 
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How can you improve indoor air?
Reduce Other Pollutants
Minimize potential health impacts of smoke by reducing other pollutants in your home, changing the settings on your central cooling systems, and more.
Central Air Fixes - Heating and Cooling Systems
All centralized heating systems have a filter component. The filter can often be found where the main system is located, where outdoor air is being pulled inside. For example, in a typical home furnace system, the filter is often placed before the blower motor, in a space between an air duct and the heating aspect of the furnace. Filters are designed to reduce pollution of our indoor air, and are rated on an effectiveness scale by ASHRAE, the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers. These MERV (minimum efficiency reporting value) ratings vary from 1 to 20 depending on how well they filter different sizes of pollutants. Below is a chart that displays the effectiveness of different MERV rated filters.
For wildfire smoke, filters rated at least 13 are effective in reducing harmful particles in the air. Filters rated below 13 cannot effectively trap the harmful particulates in wildfire smoke. However, these higher rated filters can strain old heating and/or cooling systems, so consider asking an HVAC technician to check your system before upgrading your filter. Also, using a finer filter will cause your system to use more energy to push air through, so think about putting a lower rated filter back in after the smoke clears away.
Most heating and cooling systems are able to shut off the inflow of outdoor air and simply recirculate indoor air. This is helpful during wildfire smoke because it allows your air to be filtered multiple times, and prevents smoke from coming inside. Find out if your system can be manually or by control switched to recirculate. Remember to undo this when the smoke clears so that your home or office can have fresh air. |
A note on smoke leakage:
Smoke particles are tiny, and can seep through small cracks in your building. In order to let your filters do their job, and ensure the healthiest breathing environment possible make sure to keep doors and windows closed as much as possible. The more times the same air can pass through your filter, the better.
Smoke particles are tiny, and can seep through small cracks in your building. In order to let your filters do their job, and ensure the healthiest breathing environment possible make sure to keep doors and windows closed as much as possible. The more times the same air can pass through your filter, the better.
