Jake Procino
News editor
Provost Carol Long announced over email that all classes at Willamette University will be held remotely the rest of the week on September 9, due to the poor air quality largely caused by the Santiam Fire, formerly known as the Beachie Creek Fire, burning east of Salem.
This is an extension of the suspension of in-person classes which President Steve Thorsett [announced] over email Tuesday afternoon, September 8.
Air quality has improved from Tuesday’s hazardous value of over 500, the highest level of health concern on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Air Quality Index (AQI), to around a value slightly less than 100 as of 7 p.m. Sept. 9, which represents a “moderate” level of health concern. Though, according to Tracy Loew of the Statesman Journal, “Willamette Valley residents should expect smokey conditions to persist through the weekend and into next week.”