One morning in August, Emily awoke gasping for breath. Her bedroom was filled with smoke which was pouring in through the window. She had opened the window the night before to take advantage of the cool summer air. Covering her face with a towel, she tried to escape but there was nowhere to go. Smoke from burning bluegrass fields filled the skies. Struggling for breath and coughing up black soot from her lungs, Emily was rushed to intensive care.

Emily is one of the 40,000 asthma sufferers living in the Spokane area. Although there are many things that trigger her asthma attacks, grass smoke puts her in the hospital. Days or weeks of intravenous cortisone must be used to keep her alive. The side effects from the high doses of cortisone are hard to take and have caused permanent damage to her system.

Emily can't escape the smoke because she never knows when it will come. The burning season begins just after harvest in late July or early August and runs until October.

This is what Emily has to say about grass burning: "There's no way people can protect themselves from the smoke. I can't leave town or give up my life every summer for two months, so I just try to avoid the worst days. Even so, field burning controls my life - I can never make plans because I never know when the smoke will prevent me from leaving the house."

Asthma Facts   Having a severe asthma attack is like trying to breathe through a straw. Panic sets in - the asthmatic literally can not breathe. Smoke contains harmful particulates and toxic organic compounds, many of which can trigger an asthma attack. These compounds can remain suspended in air almost indefinitely and can travel hundreds of miles from point of origin. Smoke does not "go away". Two of the recent asthma deaths connected to grass smoke involved victims living more than 40 miles downwind of the burn sites.