{"id":12911,"date":"2017-09-13T17:54:00","date_gmt":"2017-09-13T17:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/2017\/09\/13\/montanans-pitch-in-to-bring-clean-air-to-smoky-classrooms\/"},"modified":"2017-09-13T17:54:00","modified_gmt":"2017-09-13T17:54:00","slug":"montanans-pitch-in-to-bring-clean-air-to-smoky-classrooms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/montanans-pitch-in-to-bring-clean-air-to-smoky-classrooms\/","title":{"rendered":"Montanans Pitch In To Bring Clean Air To Smoky Classrooms"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Nora Saks<\/a><\/span> <\/p>\n

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\n Smoke plumes rise from the Rice Ridge Fire in August, behind Montana’s Seeley Lake Elementary School, in Seeley Lake, Mont.<\/p>\n

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Eric Whitney\/MTPR<\/p>\n

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Eric Whitney\/MTPR<\/p>\n

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More than a million acres of Montana forests and rangeland have burned this year, so far, causing unhealthy air across the state since mid-July.<\/p>\n

In August the Missoula County health department took the unprecedented step of advising the entire town of Seeley Lake to evacuate due to smoke; air there has been classified as “hazardous” levels for 35 days in August 1.<\/p>\n

Now that fire season<\/a> has extended into the school year, many western Montana schools have been keeping kids inside because of heavy smoke. But that doesn’t mean they’re breathing clean air. Some community partnerships are springing up to try to get air filters into more classrooms.<\/p>\n

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Air quality has also been poor in Frenchtown, which is on the far west side of Missoula county; Seeley Lake is on the eastern side. On a recent afternoon, recess was in full swing at Frenchtown Elementary School, and the students were all indoors. About 60 kids swarmed around the smaller gym. Bouncy balls sailed overhead and a blur of jump-ropes narrowly missed swiping limbs.<\/p>\n

Juliana Palen-Goodsell describes the scene the way only a 9-year-old can.<\/p>\n

“It’s kind of like a lot of red ants,” she says. “They’re all running around, hitting people with balls. It’s really crazy.”<\/p>\n

It’s a little too much for Goodsell, so she opts to watch a movie instead, with more than 100 other 4th graders packed into one very warm classroom.<\/p>\n

Smoke from wildfires raging around the region has kept Frenchtown students inside almost all week. There’s no air conditioning.<\/p>\n

Administrators have to make quick decisions throughout the school day about whether it’s safe for kids to play outside. Assistant Principal Ashley Parks relies on updates from the state Department of Environmental Quality<\/a> that monitor the concentrations of fine particulate matter in the air.<\/p>\n