Martin Kidston

(Missoula Current) As heat and smoke settle in across western Montana and become the new summer norm, Missoula County and its emergency partners plan to test their response and prepare for worsening conditions in the future.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the University Corporation for Atmosphere Research this week offered up to $35,000 for the event, which includes an emergency management tabletop exercise related to an extreme heat and smoke event.

The program will host a range of partners including public health officials, disaster and emergency services, researchers and public officials, among others.

“We'll set goals for future actions,” said Alli Kane, the county's climate action program coordinator. “We'll also have an after-action report. That's to help get down on paper what coordinated response we come up with. We're looking at that near-term, like next summer response, should we have an extreme heat or smoke event, as well as longer-term goals for us.”

The city and county, along with Climate Smart Missoula, last year launched a first-of-its-kind heat index and temperature map for Missoula County, revealing heat islands and their potential threat to public health.

Kane said the number of annual days above 90 degrees is increasing in the region, and residents aren't equipped to deal with it. By 2050, heat waves in the region are expected to increase both in number and duration, along with intensity.

“It's becoming our new normal and it overlaps really strongly with our wildfire smoke season and our controlled burn smoke season,” said Kane. “Heat across the country and the world is the number one weather-related killer. It exacerbates all mental and physical health issues. But those heat related illnesses and deaths are 100% preventable with proper planning and action. We know in the north we're not adequately prepared for that.”

Kane said the exercise, planned for the week of Sept. 21, will include various scenarios and how public health and other officials respond.

The health impacts of prolonged exposure to smoke have also become a growing issue. The air-quality index in Missoula and surrounding regions over the last week has ranged from “unhealthy to sensitive groups” to “very unhealthy” for everyone.

As smoke and heat intensify with climate change, learning to deal with it and respond if necessary may be part of the equation.

“Smoke is a normal thing in the Northern Rockies,” said Missoula County Commissioner Dave Strohmeier. “There always has been smoke and there always will be smoke, so we better get used to how to live with it.”