7/3/2015 Fire/Air Quality Specialist on the way to Paradise Fire

The Paradise Fire has been picking up steam with the hot weather so the team managing the fire has decided to order a specialist who can help them understand and communicate concerns about air quality in surrounding areas. This specialist - an Air Resource Adviser or ARA - will be arriving in the next day or two with 2 temporary air quality monitors to be installed in Forks and Queets. Until then we can take a look at smoke model output for clues of where the smoke will go. The first picture on the left below shows smoke dispersion expected this afternoon - smoke is expected to go east into the park and could reach the southern part of Puget Sound, depending on how active the fire is. The middle picture is for about 8am on July 4 and shows the smoke drifting a bit more aimlessly, some going west to the coast and some going south/south east. And the final picture on the right is for tomorrow afternoon with smoke traveling to the south along the I5 corridor and east to the Kitsap penninsula.

Below is a shot from the Paradise Fire Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Paradise-Fire/831205013596015) showing fire activity on July 2.