By Vivian La and Ed Ronco, IPR
This story is made possible through a partnership between Interlochen Public Radio and Grist, a nonprofit environmental media organization.
Northern Michigan is enveloped in a thick blanket of brown smoke from wildfires in Minnesota and Canada.
“We currently can’t see across (Lake Charelvoix),” said Jenny Clasman, executive director of the Boyne Area Chamber of Commerce, which canceled an outdoor concert set for Wednesday night. “I can see across the street, but it’s definitely foggy, cloudy. There is ash on our cars right now and it smells like burning tires.”
Clasman, who has asthma, said she was having a hard time breathing and was wearing an N-95 mask outdoors.
And she might not get much relief this week.
“It’s going to be with us certainly for Thursday, and there’s a pretty good chance it’s going to hang around into the day on Friday before we can really start to displace it,” said Jeff Zoltowski, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Gaylord.
The fires are hundreds of miles away from Michigan, but until they settle down or go out altogether, off-and-on smoke will be possible as long as the winds are coming out of the northwest.
“It’s a really, really thick plume of smoke. It’s being added to continually,” said Jim Haywood, senior meteorologist with EGLE. “We’re seeing new fires breaking out all the time.”
Haywood said smoke forecasts currently look ahead 48 hours, and are issued with help from meteorologists across the Midwest.
Because of how aggressive the fires are, EGLE said their air quality alert will extend into Thursday and possibly Friday.
Health impacts
Most of northern Michigan was under an air quality alert. At a monitoring station in Houghton Lake, the air quality was listed as “unhealthy for sensitive groups” on Wednesday afternoon. In Seney, in the Upper Peninsula, the air quality was “unhealthy,” meaning all populations were at risk of adverse effects.
It’s recommended that people avoid any strenuous outdoor activity because of high levels of fine particulate matter, which can cause health problems when inhaled. Children, older adults, or people with respiratory and cardiovascular disease are particularly vulnerable.
Northern Michigan is also under a heat advisory, with high humidity and temperatures expected to stay in the upper 80s well into the weekend.
Wildfire smoke can exacerbate health issues from extreme heat, said Lisa Del Buono, a retired doctor in Traverse City and founder of the nonprofit Michigan Clinicians for Climate Action.
“When there are two hazards being described, we have a tendency in our communication and in our brains to silo the issues, but they tend to work together and sometimes have compounding effects,” she said.
Under both a heat advisory and air quality alert, Del Buono recommends running the air conditioner and making sure the filter inside is clean.
She also suggested checking in on neighbors because heat and smoke can sometimes trigger heart attacks, stroke, or preterm deliveries.
Days like this with multiple hazards are a reminder that northern Michigan is vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, Del Buono said. Average summer temperatures in Michigan have increased by 2.3 degrees Fahrenheit, according to data from the research nonprofit Climate Central.
Hotter temperatures around the U.S. and Canada are making the conditions that can cause fires to ignite and burn more common.
From her vantage point about halfway out Old Mission Peninsula, Del Buono said she had lost sight of an island that’s usually in view, just about a mile away.
“Right now, I can’t even see the water at all, let alone the island or across the bay,” she told IPR.
“We are not avoiding the impacts of climate change, as we can see looking out the window right now,” Del Buono said. “All of this is tough on our health.”
Canceled plans
Clasman, who leads the Boyne Area Chamber of Commerce, said it was disappointing to have to cancel tonight’s event, but it was also an easy decision.
“I do worry about people getting sick,” she said. “I do worry about the ERs filling up this evening, and I definitely don’t want to be contributing to that.”
Boyne City’s weekly Evenings at the Gazebo Summer Music Series hardly ever cancels an event. Even when it rains they move to a pavilion at Veterans’ Park.
Wednesday night’s act, the Traverse City-based duo “Dags Und Timmah!” will return on Aug. 19, air quality permitting.
Clasman said it’s the third year they’ve dealt with smoke drifting into the area but this is the worst it’s been.
“I’ve never had ash on the car. That’s new,” she said. “I’ve never smelled burning tire. That’s new.”
