Gonzaga Climate Institute receives $1.1 million grant to launch Smoke Ready Spokane project

Wildfire smoke in the Spokane area has become markedly worse in the past decade, and residents have largely had to rely on themselves or local libraries to seek relief from poor air quality.

The Gonzaga Climate Institute, which on Tuesday received a $1.1 million grant from the Environmental Protection Agency to launch the Smoke Ready Spokane project, hopes to improve the city’s resiliency during the region’s smoke season and better understand what steps are most needed in the near to midterm.

The city-owned community centers will receive the lion’s share of the funding to install air quality sensors inside and outside of the buildings, create dashboards that show visitors live data from those sensors, and improve the HVAC system at the Northeast Community Center so it can filter particulates smaller than 2.5 micrometers. Those pose a particular risk to health.

The investments in the community centers, one of which is located in each of the city’s three council districts, are meant to create more spaces for the public to seek refuge from poor air quality during wildfires or other extreme weather events, said Professor Brian Henning, director for the Center for Climate, Water, and the Environment at Gonzaga University.

It’s a timely initiative.

Between 2000 and 2014, there were on average 2.6 days each year when air quality was at least unhealthy for some groups, such as those with pre-existing health conditions, according to data from the Spokane Clean Air Agency.

Since 2015, that yearly average has more than tripled to 8.8 days. Notably, the only days since the start of the century when air quality was considered “hazardous” – the highest category of concern – have come since 2020.

According to a report released late last year by the state Department of Ecology, long-term exposure to air pollution can cause asthma in children and chronic cardiovascular conditions in adults.

Short-term exposure can exacerbate asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and increase the risk of heart attack or a stroke.

That report estimated 65 deaths occur each year among adults in Spokane and Spokane Valley associated with the fine particulate air pollution largely derived from wildfire smoke.

The Spokane Clean Air Agency will receive $220,000 over the next two years as a subrecipient of the EPA grant to expand community outreach and education to improve wildfire smoke preparedness.

Finally, the Gonzaga Climate Institute will partner with the University of Washington to conduct a community-wide survey and hold a stakeholder meeting this summer to better understand the particular challenges the community faces during smoke events.

The Gonzaga Climate Institute continues to seek additional funding needed to address those challenges, Henning noted, including a $20 million grant through the Inflation Reduction Act.

“Can we, for example, build a network of resiliency hubs by hardening trusted community facilities, starting with city-owned community centers but over time going to other community assets such as libraries, churches and others, so people can turn to these hubs in moments of extreme weather?” he asked.