Smoke has settled over Vancouver Island as wildfires continue to ravage BC’s interior.
Thus far, aside from a few notable wildfires, Vancouver Island has not had any major wildfires but due to extreme drought conditions and volatile weather patterns, almost all other regions of British Columbia have seen the result of these devastating flames.
On Saturday, August 19th, Premier David Eby declared a province-wide state of emergency because of numerous evacuation orders leading to tens of thousands of people being displaced, not knowing whether their homes have been destroyed.
Wildfires in Washington have been pushing smoke north while BC’s wildfires in the interior have been pushing smoke westward, leaving all of Vancouver Island in the middle of a massive smoke cloud with no end in sight.
A smoke forecast radar shows this in real-time and reveals that all of southern Vancouver Island has between 10 and 28 particle pollution from fine particulates (PM2.5), which is relatively low, but still impactful for those with respiratory conditions, pregnant women and children.
Northern regions of the island are forecasted as having up to 250 PM2.5.
Environment Canada puts the Victoria and Saanich areas at a three on the Air Quality Health Index (AQHI) which is categorically a ‘low risk’ designation.
Through the weekend, up until Monday, August 28th, smoke conditions are expected to worsen slightly bringing the area’s AQHI to a rating of four pushing Victorians into a ‘moderate risk’ state.
When moderate risk conditions are present, most people can go about their daily routines without worrying about negative health impacts; however, the smoke will be noticeable.
The most commonly affected people are seniors, pregnant people, infants and young children, people who work outdoors, people involved in strenuous outdoor exercise and people with an existing illness or chronic health conditions.
Environment Canada warns organizers of outdoor sporting events that participants and attendees may feel the effects of the smoky conditions.
Similarly, PurpleAir, which is an organization that measures the air quality in Victoria in real-time, puts Greater Victoria at between 107 and 140 ug/m3.
This means that most people will be unaffected by the smoke while outside, but long exposure to the smoke or participating in strenuous activity may have negative health effects.
The smoke will be hovering over all of Vancouver Island for the next 72 hours at least with next week having a high probability of sustained smoky conditions as well.
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