The situation is Spokane is horrendous and the fires are still not contained. We're about 80 miles south so are okay, but the AQI is pretty bad and getting worse (depending on the winds, of course). The fires in the PNW and Inland Northwest are unbelievable this year - they're every where.
The app "Watch Duty" gives you good information about the location of fires.
We had a good day yesterday, but the smoke moved in just before dark. There are fires North, Northwest and Southwest of us. We had a lousy ski season due to low snow levels this past season, so it is not a surprise we are having a bad fire season. The extremely hot weather has not even started. That will make it even worse. I think a couple of factors come into play. Environmental issues are a major factor. There is also very little logging done anymore. Logging cleared out a lot of the dead trees and underbrush. There used to be a lot of free-range sheep and cattle in the mountains in the summer mowing down the grass and the brush. The lamb processing plant was taken out about 25 years ago. I don't think it could compete with New Zealand, and our wool market is very slim. Groups like the Sierra Club have bought up the grazing leases of public land that have prevented ranchers rom running their cattle on local federal land. No easy solutions.
(Off the subject, but Twin Falls, Idaho is about one of the safest towns I've been to. High population of LDS. Farming town. Really prosperous area. My older neighbors, a married couple, are thinking about moving there. I am sure the whole town is in shock. Just goes to show you crazy people can exist everywhere.)