Choking On Smoke

This is the scene here in Missoula this morning. Over the weekend there was a brief reprieve in smoke, while I was out of town of course. I came back to a smoky, low-visibility Missoula. I think the smoke is almost the only topic of conversation here at the library. When checking out to patrons our conversations rarely stray from small talk, and the weather is always an easy subject, so we focus on the heat and smoke.

Why is the smoke back? The Jocko lake fire exploded over the weekend and was declared the top-priority wildfire in the country. Yesterday crews estimated the fire had burned close to 18,000 acres, but called it a rough estimate since they couldn't see well enough through the intense amount of smoke. Read about it here.

So maybe it would be a good day to come grab a movie or book and stay inside, instead of choking on the smoke outside.