As happy as Missoulians were to see the rain showers in western Montana, health department officials are saying the smoke problems will persist till further notice.
Missoula City County Health Department officials met with residents of Seeley Lake on Thursday night and recommended with the strongest language possible how important it was to evacuate due to historically toxic wildfire smoke.
Air quality specialists are frustrated year after year when the American Lung Association names Missoula as one of the worst cities in America for small particle pollution, making the air unhealthy for certain populations.
President Obama's emotional speech announcing proposed executive actions on gun control have had the opposite effect, with gun sales through a Missoula dealer mushrooming online.
Air pollution in the Missoula area has worsened to the point where the City County Health Department has increased the alert level from Stage One to Stage Two.
University of Montana Relations reports that the brains of healthy children respond to long-term air pollution exposure with symptoms like those of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.