Fighting Fire With Fire May Mean Breathing Smoke Year-Round (Corrected)

People living in the West can’t get a break from inhaling dirty air caused by fires, even when the wildfire season comes to an end.

This summer they were engulfed in smoke from a number of catastrophic fires. And this fall they could find themselves enshrouded in another smoky haze—a result of fires planned and deliberately set by state and federal officials to ward off the more dangerous wildfires that erupt during the dry summer season.

Last month, Missoula, the Montana city nestled in the Northern Rockies and surrounded by seven wilderness areas, found itself engulfed in smoke from ...