Smoke from a number of wildfires in B.C. continues to impact the province's air quality.
On Thursday, Sept. 4, a large portion of the province remains under an special air quality statement issued by Environment Canada. Areas affected by statement include the Lower Mainland, Fraser Valley, Cariboo and Thompson regions, Northern B.C. aligning the Alberta border and northeast border with the Northwest Territories, and the majority of the Okanagan.
Currently, Vancouver Island, the Kootenays, and the western flank of the province north of Whistler are not impacted by the smoke enough to be issued the special air quality statement.
"Numerous regions across B.C. are being impacted or are likely to be impacted by wildfire smoke over the next 24-48 hours," said Environment Canada. "Smoke haze will be present across the majority of the B.C. landscape and can be highly variable."
According to Environment Canada, the air will potentially be its worst throughout the day Thursday and into Friday morning. On the government weather agency's , which ranges from 1-10 (one being low risk and 10 being a very high risk), most of the province at currently at a moderate (4-6) risk. However, the index could quickly escalate to 10 on Thursday in the Metro Vancouver, Central and Eastern Fraser Valley, Central and North Okanagan, Kamloops, many areas of the Cariboo including Quesnel, Williams Lake, Prince George, Sparwood, and in the north, Smithers and Fort St. John.
On Wednesday, Sept. 3, Metro Vancouver Regional District issued an Air Quality Warning in Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley due to the smoky conditions.
Additionally, Interior Health and Northern Health encourages residents to stay inside over the next couple of days.
On top of the smoky conditions, an area in the south Cariboo, ranging from 108 Mile Ranch south to Yale and from Pemberton to Kamloops west to east are under a heat warning also issued by Environment Canada.
Temperatures are expected to reach the mid-30s C.
Across the province, there are 154 active wildfires as of 7:45 a.m. Thursday morning, with 54 listed as out of control.
