Air Quality & Wildfire News — August 7, 2026

The Northwest's smoke is now showing up in places that have nothing to do with firefighting: a stadium full of teenage athletes, a returning family's street, a backyard vegetable garden. Here's what was reported today.

Smoke reaches a world championship in Eugene

Smoke from large wildfires burning across Washington and parts of Oregon drifted into Eugene on August 6, and the city's AQI reached 209 around 11:30 a.m. Pacific time — the "Unhealthy" range — according to Essentially Sports, citing AirNow. It quickly became one of the biggest off-track concerns at the 2026 World Athletics U20 Championships.

World Athletics said it is monitoring the situation with air quality sensors both inside the stadium and in surrounding areas, and following local health authorities' recommendations. The organization said it is minimizing time outside and encouraging masks, which it has made available at Hayward Field for teams, staff and fans, and that any decision about competition will prioritize athletes' health.

Prosecutors describe weeks of planning behind a Spokane fire

A man charged with starting a wildfire in Spokane, Washington planned it for weeks and researched when the weather would be best for igniting it, police said, AL.com reports, citing The Associated Press.

Aaron Farinacci, 37, is charged with starting the Old Trails fire, one of three blazes in the Spokane area that have burned more than 850 buildings and forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate. No deaths or serious injuries have been reported. He is also connected to four smaller fires in the summer of 2025 and last month. His arraignment on five first-degree arson charges was scheduled for Thursday, but his lawyer requested a competency evaluation before he enters a plea. A Spokane Superior Court judge set bond at $2 million.

A photographer follows one family back to Spokane

The Old Trails Fire tore through several neighborhoods in northwest Spokane and destroyed hundreds of structures on August 1. AP photographer Lindsey Wasson drove across the state to document residents returning, and wrote about one photograph for the AP: Miriam Sim looking down West Tiffany Avenue, where every house was gone.

Wasson described walking with Miriam and Daniel Sim down the hill toward their cul-de-sac, keeping a respectful distance while Miriam stayed on the phone with a loved one. Washington, she noted, is in the middle of a historic wildfire season.

What to do about ash on your garden produce

With heavy smoke across parts of Oregon, gardeners are asking whether food from an ash-dusted garden is safe. The short answer, in an Oregonian gardening Q&A, is that smoke and ash generally don't penetrate deep into fruits and vegetables, so rinsing well should remove residues.

The practical advice: wait until air quality is back in a safe range before going out to work in the garden. Don't use a leaf blower — a gentle spray from a hose is better, and it avoids kicking ash into the air you're breathing. Rinse produce outside first, then again in the sink. Peeling, or pulling the outer leaves off greens, reduces the risk further. If your garden is under a heavy layer of ash or sits near a burned structure, the piece advises more caution, since structure fires produce different toxins than forest fires.

Oregon's record season, and the paperwork problem after a fire

Oregon has shattered its wildfire record with more than 2 million acres already burned and months of fire season still ahead, leaving thousands of families under rolling evacuation alerts, The Oregonian reports.

Financial advisers told the paper that the money trouble after a wildfire often comes less from the fire itself than from missing paperwork that slows insurance claims and aid. Their suggestion is a "financial go bag" — copies of IDs, insurance policies, deeds, account statements and prescription lists, kept together before you need them. As one adviser put it, it's a portable backup of your financial life.

Sources

• World Athletics Responds as Wildfire Smoke Raises Air Quality Concerns at U20 Championships — Essentially Sports
• Man charged in Washington wildfire planned it for weeks: 'Fire is powerful, beautiful' — AL.com
• How a photographer centered one woman amid the destruction of a Spokane wildfire — The Associated Press
• How to safely clean garden produce after wildfire smoke and ash — The Oregonian
• What's a financial go bag? How to protect finances before disaster strikes — The Oregonian

Canairy aggregates publicly reported air-quality and wildfire news and summarizes it in plain English, with links to the original sources. This is educational information, not medical or emergency advice. In a wildfire or air-quality emergency, follow guidance from local authorities.