How Missoula Smoky Air Might Affect Griz and Paddleheads Games

Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - The Miller Peak Fire continues to pump smoke into the deep Missoula valley, and with so many activities occurring in the summer, I contacted two of the most visible teams in Missoula; the Montana Grizzlies football team, and the Missoula Paddleheads professional baseball team about their protocols when wildfire smoke is prevalent.

I spoke with UM Sports Information Director Eric Taber about how the smoky conditions might affect student-athletes.

Griz Football Players are Still Weight Training in the Champions Center

“It's an ongoing thing that we're used to here in Montana in the summertime, and we certainly have protocols that we follow, but more importantly, just we pay close attention to the air quality and make sure our student-athletes are taken care of in the best regard possible,” began Taber.

Taber described the protocols for Griz football players to practice in smoky conditions.

Taber said Coaches are Always Concerned about the Health of their Players

“We know the health of our student-athletes, right?” he asked. “We know that if a person has asthma or something like that, where they might be more susceptible to bad air quality and its harmful effects, we know that they need to be maybe pulled out of practice a bit more, but generally speaking, we work with the Montana Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Environmental Quality, the Missoula City and County Health Department (Missoula Public Health) to monitor the air quality levels and know what those different levels mean for certain groups of people, so we monitor them and we adjust accordingly.”

Pre-season fall drills don’t begin until August 2.

Only Two Home Paddleheads Baseball Games have ever been Canceled

I also spoke to Matt Ellis, President of the Missoula Paddleheads about the smoke pouring into the valley. He said there are few precedents of calling off a Paddleheads home game.

“We’ve canceled, I think, two games over the history of the franchise since 1999; one in the early 2,000’s and one in the mid-2000s teens. We would cancel the game out of concern for our fans before we would cancel the game out of concern for our players due to the peak physical condition our players are in.”

Ellis said he would have more concerns for Paddleheads fans than for his players.

Matt Ellis is More Concerned with the Health of the Fans in Smoky Conditions

"When it's 'Unhealthy for sensitive groups', we still have a game, but for people with severe asthma issues or health conditions that the smoke is impacting, we would encourage them to follow the health department's lead and not attend the game," he said. "But for the most part, the healthy individuals aren't at risk by coming to the game and watching our players play."

I reached out to Missoula Parks and Recreation on their wildfire smoke policies. Communications Specialist Becky Goodrich said, “There are no changes yet, as Air Quality is still listed as ‘Moderate’.” She also provided two links for the public to access for details on Missoula Parks and Recreation’s policies; for outdoor activities in general, and guidelines for youth programs.