Wildfires spread across Northern BC are still burning, causing a blanket of smoke to hover over the region for more than a month.
Today marked five consecutive weeks of a smoky skies bulletin by BC Air Quality and Environment Canada, with the more than 91,000-hectare Shovel Lake blaze still as the constant source for most of the coverage.
While skies may have cleared up in some pockets, Air Quality Meteorologist Graham Veale says the advisory is still in place based on the chance of more smoke coming with the wind.
“It’s not necessarily stating that smoke will occur, it’s just whether the potential is there. As long as we have large fires emitting smoke and the community or the area is downwind, there’s still a potential for that smoke to appear.”
Rain is once again in the forecast later this week with a 70% chance on Thursday.
However, Veale believes a more significant downpour needs to happen in order for the air to fully clear up.
“We need to have an elimination at the source, but, of course, raining, in general, will help you clean the air as it tends to promote better mixing and there is a scrubbing effect from the rainfall itself. So during this week, we will be evaluating on a day-to-day basis.”
Until then, Northern Health continues to advise residents with chronic underlying conditions, infants, and seniors to stay inside as much as they can.
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For more evacuee information, you can click here.
For more information on all the current wildfires in the Northwest and Prince George Fire Centres, you can click here.
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