wildfire

Wildfire season began earlier than usual across the region this year, and with it came smoky skies. That's led to problems like unsafe air quality, and hundreds of delayed flights out of Denver on Monday. Now, meteorologists and air quality experts say hazy conditions will likely stick around until fall for many Mountain West communities.

Severe wildfires across the West have prompted the nation’s top fire agency to increase its preparedness level to the highest and most critical stage. This is the earliest the agency has done so in a decade.

“It’s an all hands on deck approach,” said Stanton Florea, a spokesperson with the National Interagency Fire Center. “We’re a full month ahead of where we were last year.”

Communities across the West typically have wildfire plans. They lay out how to evacuate, where to send people and what to do. But those may need an update.

“We need to step up and start planning for worse scenarios than we’ve planned for in the past,” said Thomas Cova, a University of Utah geography professor.

Gains in air quality had been hailed as a silver lining amid the COVID-19 pandemic. But according to new data out this week, those improvements in the U.S. were negated by last summer's wildfire smoke.

A new report could help you analyze wildfire risks to homes in your state, county or community.