Last year, unprecedented levels of wildfire smoke from the epic 2017 wildfire season choked communities across western Montana and left lots of people wondering what breathing that smoke was doing to their health. And on Tuesday night on campus in Missoula, a University of Montana researcher will share some of his findings on the detrimental health effects of smoke.
Dr. Paul Smith is a pediatric pulmonologist and associate professor of medicine at the University of Montana.
"I’ll be talking some about how smoke hurts you, and what kind of levels we’ve seen around the state of Montana."
Professor Brent Ruby, who focuses on firefighter health and performance, will join Dr. Smith on the panel. Smith says that while the fire season might be over, smoke is still a clear and present danger for all Montanans. And he hopes to get the message across that, "We are going to continue to deal with this problem for the decades to come. And that we do have a number of vulnerable people, both children and adults, that are going to have to learn mechanisms to keep themselves safe."
The "Wildfire Implications for Firefighter and Community Health" lecture happens Tuesday, March 5, 7 p.m. in Missoula at the UC Theater on campus.
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