Wildfire Smoke Information for Schools
Once again, we find ourselves amid smoky skies as summer begins to wind down. As the school year rapidly approaches and sports practices begin, questions may be arising about local air quality and whether students should be exerting themselves outside. Here are some resources to help you make informed decisions about whether to hold sports practices or activities outdoors.
When determining local air quality, our department relies on the Department of Environmental Quality air quality guidelines. “Miles of visibility” is the measurement used to identify air quality conditions. For instance, the “Corvallis C” is approximately 3 miles from the Corvallis Schools Campus. If it can’t be seen because of smoke, the air quality conditions are, at a minimum, UNHEALTHY (visibility 1.5-2.5 miles) and certain categories of people should avoid outdoor exertion. Beloware maps with radii of visibility around the valley schools. Identify a landmark of known distance from your school, where it falls on the bull’s eye, and determine if you can clearly see it.
Visibility guidelines, health effects categories and general information about smoke
Most useful to your school may be our Google Earth images in which your school’s bull’s eye is overlaid on Google Earth imaging which includes geographic images.
Images:
Hamilton Middle School/Washington School