Heavy smoke sits over Kamloops Wednesday afternoon.
(JENNIFER STAHN / iNFOnews.ca)
July 16, 2014 - 3:34 PM
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Fires to the north of us are causing smoky conditions and the Ministry of Environment is now warning people to take additional precautions because of the smoke.
A smoky skies advisory was issued today for the Thompson, Shuswap, Okanagan, Similkameen, Nicola, Boundary and Fraser Canyon areas. Similar advisories have also been issued for the Golden, Williams Lake, Quesnel, Prince George and Northeastern regions.
The conditions can vary widely and while most parts of the region are currently facing an air quality rating of moderate Kamloops has crept into the high health risk range.
To reduce the risk to health, people are asked to avoid strenuous outdoor activities and to contact a health care provider if you are having difficulty breathing, chest pain or sudden onset of cough. These symptoms can occur even if you stay indoors because smoke particles can still make their way inside.
A smoky skies advisory is a new type of advisory specifically to communicate about wildfire smoke and will be issued when human health is a concern. It is ‘intended to respond to the rapidly changing nature of wildfire smoke’, which can change significantly over short distances and time periods.
Several fires are burning throughout the region today but much of the smoke is attributed to the more than 50,000 hectares burning in northern B.C. as well as fires in the Northwest Territories and Alberta.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Jennifer Stahn at jstahn@infonews.ca or call 250-819-3723. To contact an editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
News from © iNFOnews, 2014