Smoke from wildfires burning across Alberta has blanketed much of the province, including the Edmonton region.
Edmontonians woke up to worsening air quality — the distinct smell of burning wood and morning skies cloaked in an orange haze.
Environment Canada has issued special air quality statements for the city and surrounding regions, while air quality warnings remain in effect for a swath of communities across the northern portion of the province.
Air quality and visibility due to wildfire smoke could fluctuate from hour to hour and as smoke levels increase, so do the health risks, Environment Canada cautioned.
As of Tuesday morning, the Air Quality Health Index for the Edmonton region was rated at 10+, meaning that residents are at a very high risk from the current levels of air pollution.
Christy Climenhaga, a scientist with Environment Canada, said Alberta hasn’t recorded any smoke hours yet this year.
Smoke hours are recorded when visibility is reduced below 10 kilometres due to smoke. She said this is typically when the general population will feel the effects of smoke inhalation.
“But, there are certain sectors of the population that are more vulnerable to the effects of wildfire smoke. So I mean, some people will feel those effects earlier than others,” she said.
So far, Climenhaga said there have been four days in June with air quality at high risk.
Environment Canada is urging people to limit their time outside and to monitor themselves for symptoms of prolonged exposure, including difficulty breathing, wheezing, chest pains or severe cough.
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Environment Canada meteorologist Steven Flisfeder said that from B.C. to Quebec, Canadians could likely see and smell wildfire smoke.
“We’re seeing smoke present almost everywhere,” Flisfeder said.
“When we look at satellite imagery, we can see the presence of smoke stemming from these wildfires making their way across the Atlantic toward the U.K. and parts of Europe.”
Flisfeder added that winds are expected to shift in the coming days.
Anne Hicks, a professor of pediatric respiratory medicine at the University of Alberta, said exposure to wildfire smoke can have a broad range of health impacts.
People will most often experience breathing difficulties but for people with chronic illness, the symptoms can be more extreme. Smoke has been known to trigger heart attacks and strokes, she notes.
“If you can smell it or taste it, you’re definitely breathing it in and bringing it into your body. Try and avoid exposures when you can,” she said.
“You do see long-term impacts the same as you would with any other kind of air pollution.”
She said more research is needed on the lingering health impacts of wildfire smoke, not only for people passively exposed to the pollution but firefighters who face prolonged and extreme exposure and acute symptoms that can linger for years.
“These are people who are putting themselves in significant danger physically during their wildfire fighting.”
A scorching season
Smoke is drifting in from the northwest from fires burning in northern Alberta as well as northeastern B.C.
Western Canada has faced a volatile start to wildfire season with explosive fire conditions and expanding evacuation orders straining emergency resources across the west.
Between 10,000 and 15,000 remain under evacuation in Saskatchewan and another 21,000 have been forced from their homes in Manitoba, one of the largest evacuations in the province’s history.
Close to 3,000 Albertans remain on evacuation orders.
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As of noon Tuesday, 66 wildfires were raging across the province, 25 of which are burning out of control.
Seven of the fires are considered an imminent threat to critical infrastructure or communities.
Among them is a blaze along the Alberta-B.C. border, which has grown relentlessly for days, triggering a string of evacuation orders.
The blaze, known as the Kiskatinaw River wildfire, continues to burn out of control since crossing the border into Alberta.
The fire flared dangerously over the weekend, forcing an evacuation of Kelly Lake in northeast B.C., and destroying several structures within the remote community.
Aggressive fire behaviour Sunday afternoon prompted the County of Grande Prairie to issue an expanded evacuation order and alert.
The fire grew significantly overnight Sunday and continued to grow rapidly Monday. It now covers 21,679 hectares.
Drier fuels and poor overnight humidity recovery are expected to fuel the fire, especially in exposed areas and spruce stands. The wildfire continues to progress toward containment lines along the north side, officials said.
Evacuations expand
On Tuesday, as the heat and wind returned, a string of new evacuation orders in northern Alberta were issued, including in the Municipal District of Greenview.
According to an alert issued at 11 a.m., a fire burning out of control about 81 kilometres southeast of the City of Grande Prairie, is spreading toward homes on Forestry Trunk Road near the Bison Flats recreation area.
The evacuation order applies to everyone between the Smoky River and the Forestry Trunk Road, along all points accessed from the Forestry Trunk Road from Kilometre 70 to Kilometre 126. Residents were told to leave immediately and bring enough supplies to last three days.
An evacuation order in Saddle Hills County was expanded Tuesday as an out-of-control wildfire burning in the Blueberry Mountain area crept closer to homes. A stretch of properties near Moonshine Lake Provincial Park have been ordered to evacuate.
Officials say the fire was first detected on May 22 and is now burning seven kilometres northwest of Moonshine Lake.
Alberta Wildfire and local fire crews continue to battle the fire from the ground and the air.
Red Earth East Complex
A complex of fires, known as the Red Earth East Complex, continues to threaten a cluster of remote northern Alberta communities.
Residents of Peerless Lake, Trout Lake, Red Earth Creek and Loon River First Nation remain under evacuation, while around 100 residents of nearby Chipewyan Lake are assessing their losses after nearly half of the structures in the community burned.
A wall of flames moved in on the community two weeks ago, temporarily trapping a firefighting crew on scene overnight as homes along with the community’s health centre, church and water treatment plant were incinerated by the flames.
The Sousa Creek fire forced residents of Chateh to flee last week. It’s unclear when it will be safe to return to the town about 850 kilometres north of Edmonton.
The fire remains five kilometres south of of Chateh and 72 kilometres west of the Town of High Level. It has now consumed more than 41,200 hectares of forest.
Crews battling the fire have faced high winds and parched conditions which have threatened to push the fire toward the community.
Firefighters and heavy equipment crews have been working to contain the fire along the north and northeastern perimeter near Sousa Creek. Shifting winds and soft wet soil deep in the bush has hampered those efforts, officials said.
A smattering of rain showers were expected to fall on northern Alberta Monday but after weeks of hot, dry weather, conditions remain parched.
Officials caution that the fire danger remains extreme, meaning the risk of fast-growing, volatile fires across the Alberta landscape remains dangerously high.
