Wildfire smoke affects air quality across Canada – CTV News

Canadians from coast to coast are experiencing poor air quality from wildfires burning across the country.

As of Tuesday, there are 494 active fires in Canada, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC). A large majority of fires are burning in B.C., Alberta, Ontario and Quebec. The organization says 259 fires are burning out of control.

The 2023 wildfire season is now named the worst in Canadian history with about 7.7 million hectares burned to date, breaking a previous record set in 1989. That’s almost the same size of Lake Superior — which covers 8.2 million hectares — Canada’s largest lake and the second largest in the world.

Marieke deRoos, communications officer with CIFFC, told CTV News Channel the number of hectares and fires is a concern.

“We haven’t seen a year with this much fire since 1989. That year, 7.3 million hectares were burned, which took place over the span of more than 12,000 fires,” she said on Tuesday. “This year, however, the amount of fire that has been burned has been over an area just shy of 3,000 fires.”

This means fires are burning “significantly” bigger and more intensely, deRoos said.

Since May, the fires have caused increased air pollution across Canada. Air quality indexes in the country have, at times, been the worst in the world and left vulnerable people at risk.

“People are probably experiencing some low mood, trouble sleeping, maybe a bit of trouble concentrating,” Dr. Coutrney Howard, an emergency physician and vice chair of Global Climate and Health Alliance, told CTV’s Your Morning.

Here’s where wildfire smoke is expected to affect air quality in Canada over the next few days.

WEST COAST

In B.C., the largest fire in the province’s history continues to burn thousands of hectares daily.

Since June 18, the Donnie Creek wildfire has maintained a record of being the largest fire burning 574,511 hectares since it was discovered on May 12 — an area larger than P.E.I.

A smoke map of the wind patterns in Canada shows the fire is impacting Canadians in northern B.C. and neighbouring Alberta.

Environment Canada has issued a special air quality statement for the communities of Williston Lake and north along the border of the Northwest Territories.

The communities in northern B.C., northeast Alberta and southern Northwest Territories are also under a heat warning.

Temperatures in the area are near 30 degrees Celsius and fueling the wildfire situation. On Monday, officials were concerned with an increased likelihood of lightning in the area.

“Wildfire smoke is causing locally poor air quality and reduced visibility,” a statement from Environment Canada reads.

In Alberta, where fires have been burning since late April, wildfire smoke is drifting eastward, with a high concentration around Edmonton.

The smoke map shows the pollution is expected to move eastward and dissipate by early Wednesday morning, giving some Canadians a break from wildfire smoke.

For communities in the Northwest Territories around Great Slave Lake including Yellowknife, the smoke is expected to persist over the next few days before dissipating Thursday morning.

PRAIRIES

As the winds push smoke east in Canada, Saskatchewan and Manitoba are expected to feel the impacts later this week.

As of Tuesday, Environment Canada has issued a special air quality statement for communities around Seabee Mine, Sask. Neighbouring Flin Flon Cranberry Portage and Grass River Prov. in Manitoba are experiencing similar smoke pollution.

Fires burning in the provinces are located north of Prince Albert. One of the largest fires in the province near the Buffalo Narrows community is now contained, a map from the province shows.

Several other wildfires are continuing to burn causing poor air quality close to the area.

Along the Manitoba-Saskatchewan border, two fires covering an area of more than 10,000 hectares each are burning out of control. The smoke from these blazes is impacting the communities in the region and is expected to drift into northern Ontario by Wednesday morning.

EAST COAST

An air quality statement has been issued for most of Ontario on Tuesday as wildfire smoke blankets various communities.

Ontario is sandwiched between the west coast, where smoke is moving from, and Quebec, where a number of fires burning there is also impacting the province.

“Wildfire smoke can be harmful to everyone’s health even at low concentrations,” the air quality statement from Environment Canada reads. “Keep your indoor air clean. Keep your doors and windows closed if the temperature in your home is comfortable.”

Communities in eastern Ontario have been facing high smoke concentrations for the past few days, but there was some relief for residents on Tuesday.

Unfortunately, the break will be short-lived, according to the national smoke map, which shows poor air quality for the capital city overnight Tuesday and continuing into Wednesday.

The smoke from the fires in northern Quebec is still impacting Montreal, which on Monday had the poorest air quality in the world. High concentrations of smoke are expected to continue to affect those in Montreal in the coming days. 

The smoke is moving over the next few days east and will blanket Labrador, the smoke map shows.

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