Smoke from wildfires prompts air quality warning for Metro Vancouver

If you can see smoke, as you could Sunday in the haze blanketing the Lower Mainland, then it’s a risk, according to Dr. Sarah Henderson of the B.C. Centre for Disease Control.

Metro Vancouver confirmed the risk late in the afternoon, issuing an air quality advisory that is expected to continue until the weather changes. Most at risk are infants and the elderly, along with those who have diabetes and lung or heart disease.

The smoke turned Vancouver’s morning skies an angry, dark colour that you’d see before a major storm, and reduced the sun to an eerie red orb. It’s the result of the wildfires burning all around B.C.

Kevin Skrepnek, chief fire information officer for the province, said there are about 181 active fires in B.C., with 18 fires breaking out Sunday after 38 new fires on Saturday.


[link to www.theprovince.com]