Thousands evacuate as wildfires burn in west Canada

Metro Vancouver has issued an Air Quality Advisory for Metro Vancouver because of high concentrations of fine particulate matter, due to smoke from wildfires outside our region.

The National Weather Service smoke from Canada had been recorded all the way to the US Atlantic Coast.

Carlsten, who also works in the School of Population and Public Health at UBC, said the heat and the smoke from the wildfires are a problematic combination, especially for people with breathing problems.

Just last week, four separate brush fires in West Vancouver were started in as many hours. “But there are also fires in the B.C. Interior so we’re receiving smoke from both ends”.

Dr. James Lu, a medical health officer for Vancouver Coastal, likened the affect to air pollution.

“We’ve never seen this before”, Doerksen said.

But he was unwilling to predict whether there would be a significant number of cases because the smoke affecting the south coast has not been consistent.

Winds out of the north, particularly from British Columbia’s Fraser Valley, give the Pacific Northwest its occasional spells of cold, windy winter, and display wind-blown Seattle TV news personalities at the Peace Arch.

Under the current conditions, everyone is advised to limit their risk by reducing over-exertion.

“Those people might want to have a mask on or stay indoors”, Laursen said.

Metro saw elevated particulate in 2012 – with readings briefly spiking towards but not above 100 – as a result of smoke from wildfires in Siberia. The locations are listed on the hot weather page of the city’s website, vancouver.ca.

There have been 85 fires so far in the Coastal fire region this year.

“There are absolutely no plans to cancel the festival at this time”, said organizers in an emailed statement.

Various levels of air quality alerts attributed specifically to the Canadian fires the covered the entire state of Minnesota; large parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, eastern Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois and Missouri; northeastern Colorado; and much of western and central Washington.

The smoke and acrid smell across the city comes as some inland fires have grown from 35 to 80 hectares.