Pretty Smoky `Round Here Today

Courtesy of the wildfires on the west coast, our entire dispatch area is smoky with only a hint of fire smell. We have fielded several calls from residents today wondering if there was something burning locally (like someone's house) or if there were any valid brush burning permits out. Dispatch has been inundated. Our current wildfire danger is low after all the rain we've had recently so that chances of that are zero. We had an ambulance call in the northwest quadrant of town which is a few hundred feet higher in elevation, and you can actually smell the fires that are burning 3,000 miles away up there. To me, it is reminiscent of when I was in Montana in the summer of 2016 and half of Yellowstone was burning. The smell was so strong it was like a punch in the nose when you stepped outside, and it made your eyes burn and water.