Particulate levels in Columbia Falls and Dillon reached the Unhealthy category, and readings in Billings, Butte, Cut Bank, Frenchtown, Great Falls, Hamilton and Libby sat in the Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups range, according to a Montana Department of Environmental Quality smoke forecast that accompanied an air quality alert covering 18 counties.
The alert spans Beaverhead, Broadwater, Deer Lodge, Flathead, Gallatin, Granite, Jefferson, Lake, Lewis and Clark, Lincoln, Madison, Mineral, Missoula, Park, Powell, Ravalli, Sanders and Silver Bow counties. An Air Resource Advisor has been assigned to the smoke event across central and western Montana.
