Smoke Resources

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Smoke Ready

Wildland fire smoke can seriously affect health, especially for high-risk individuals. This includes people with lung or heart disease, children, older adults, and pregnant women. Even otherwise healthy individuals should try to reduce their exposure to smoke.

How to be smoke ready

1. Plan Ahead
  • Talk with a healthcare provider to understand your personal risk from smoke.
  • Stock up on essentials. This may include items such as medications, non-perishable food, HVAC filters, or N95 masks.
  • Make sure your HVAC system is in good working order. Stock up on the highest possible rated MERV filter your system will allow.
  • If you don’t have an HVAC system, consider purchasing a HEPA portable air cleaner or materials to make a DIY box fan.
  • Smoke and fires can be stressful for children. Families can plan for smoke by visiting the links in the Resource For Families section.
2. Stay Informed
3. When Smoke Arrives: Act
  • Limit duration and intensity of outdoor activity.
  • Maintain cleaner indoor air with the following steps:
    • Keep windows closed unless it's too hot to safely do so.
    • Filter the air using an HVAC system with recirculation mode turned on. Use the highest possible rated MERV filter.
    • If you don’t have an HVAC system, start small and create a cleaner air room with a HEPA portable air cleaner or DIY box fan.
    • Don't add to indoor air pollution. If possible, avoid candles, incense, sprays, air fresheners, broiling/frying food, gas stoves, smoking, or vaping.
    • Open the windows again only when outdoor air quality improves.
  • If you cannot keep your indoor air clean, consider traveling for some relief in cleaner air spaces such as a public building or friend's residence.
  • If you must go outside, consider wearing a properly fitted N95 mask. Surgical or cloth masks will not provide protection from smoke particles.
  • Smoke often occurs during the hottest times of the year. Learn how to stay safe during smoke and extreme heat.
Learn how to make a DIY Box Fan:

Wildfire Smoke

Smoke from wildfires can arrive suddenly, sometimes traveling hundreds of miles across state and international borders. Supplies such as air filters, fans, and masks are often in short supply once a smoke event begins. With that in mind, it’s important to prepare before smoke arrives and to stay aware of wildfire activity and smoke forecasts throughout the season.

DNR forecasters contribute regularly to the Washington Smoke Blog, an interagency effort that provides frequent statewide smoke updates during wildfire season. For communities near active fires, Air Resource Advisors issue Local Smoke Outlooks with more detailed, fire-specific forecasts. The Department of Ecology’s Air Quality Map also offers year-round AQI forecasts, combining computer models with input from air quality specialists.

Prescribed Fire Smoke

Prescribed fire is a critical tool for land managers that reduces built-up vegetation, lowers the risk of high-intensity wildfire, and restores natural habitats for wildlife. Smoke from prescribed fire is typically less widespread and shorter-lived than wildfire smoke, and is usually most noticeable in the immediate area of the burn. Because prescribed fire typically occurs outside of wildfire season, it's important to be prepared for smoke year-round.

If you want to be notified of prescribed burns in your area, click on the Burn Notification tab on the DNR Burn Portal. This tool allows you to receive email and/or text notifications for all prescribed burns entered into the Burn Portal within a certain distance of your selected location. You can also create multiple locations and set a custom radius for each one. To sign up, visit the Burn Portal and click on the “Burn Notifications” tab on the top of the page.

There are other ways to find prescribed burn information. If you live near U.S. Forest Service or DNR-managed lands, you can follow your local USFS or DNR offices on social media to stay up to date on prescribed burns in your area. Watch Duty can also be a useful platform to find burn updates.

DNR meteorologists and forecasters work to limit the impacts of prescribed fire smoke on Washington communities by implementing the Washington Smoke Management Plan. This involves monitoring air quality, interpreting weather data, and making forecasts that help inform ignition decisions for certain prescribed fires. DNR staff coordinate closely with burn practitioners to help identify the best weather and ventilation windows for prescribed fire. This includes a 9:00 a.m. call every Monday and Thursday that is open to the public during prescribed burn season, typically September to June.

Only silvicultural burning is regulated by DNR. This includes burning of logging slash/debris piles and understory burns targeting forest restoration/health. Other types of burning (residential, land clearing, agriculture) are primarily regulated by other agencies, namely the Department of Ecology or Local Clean Air Agencies, depending on the location. The Tribes of Washington regulate prescribed burning on tribal land.

If you believe that smoke from silvicultural burning activities is causing an unreasonable impact at your location, you can submit a Smoke Complaint. If you want, a DNR representative can follow up with you to discuss the situation.