The region’s air quality department says high concentrations of fine particulate matter have been detected from wildfires burning in the surrounding area.
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On Monday the health risk for the Whistler and Squamish areas were listed as “high” and BC Air Quality officials advised people to avoid strenuous outdoor activities.
“Exposure is particularly a concern for infants, the elderly and those who have diabetes, and lung or heart disease”, states the Metro Vancouver advisory.
“These are amongst the worst conditions that I remember”, said Julie Saxton, air quality planner with Metro Vancouver.
Look outside and it’s a much clearer picture from what we saw over the weekend.
Environment Canada’s air quality health index advises that at at Level 10, everyone stay indoors if possible, especially those with respiratory problems.
Thousand of miles away, hundreds of fires burn in Canada and Alaska, sending a steady stream of smoke down into the Treasure State, and it’s chose to stay awhile.
“We have a very, very challenging situation around the province, as everybody knows – an early start to the season, 27 new fires yesterday”, he said, adding 866 fires are now burning. One hundred and eighty-four fires are being fought across the province, and there are nine evacuation alerts in effect, impacting over 800 homes the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations reported.
The air quality objective for fine particulate is 25 micrograms per cubic metre measured as a 24-hour rolling average.
The City of Vancouver has even opened “cooling centres” for people in need of relief from the smoke and the heat. “This advisory is expected to continue until there is a change in the current weather”.
You may notice a smoky smell to the air this morning in Wisconsin.
“There are absolutely no plans to cancel the festival at this time”, said organizers in an emailed statement.
A total of 120 firefighters, three helicopters, and 1 heavy equipment operator are on scene battling the Elaho Fire.
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“Any increase in fire load will be hard for us to manage”.
