SPOKANE, Wash. — Massive wildfires in the West have led to poor air quality across the region, causing respiratory problems for people far from the fire lines as well as grounding firefighting aircraft.
“It’s been a nightmare to breathe,” said Okanogan County Sheriff Frank Rogers in Washington state.
Conditions were starting to improve Tuesday and Rogers said he could see the sun for the first time in a week.
That sun brought more heat to Washington, where firefighters kept a wary eye on rising temperatures and winds that threatened to expand what’s already the largest wildfire on record in the state.
