Vancouver’s air quality affected as several wildfires rage
A wildfire burns in a field near Granville, B.C., on Wednesday, July 11, 2019. The wildfire is burning in Douglas Creek Provincial Park, across the border from B.C.
VANCOUVER — Vancouver’s air quality has been affected as several wildfires are going on in British Columbia.
Vancouver’s air quality is expected to get worse over the next day or so.
According to Environment Canada, a high number of fires are being reported in the Kootenay and Okanagan mountain valleys.
A photo tweeted by @airqualitybv shows smoke over Vancouver this morning. The province of British Columbia says six wildfires are burning in the province.
Some British Columbia firefighters on the front lines said the wildfire is burning in a dense rainforest.
The fire started Monday afternoon and has now destroyed over 2,500 square kilometres of land in Douglas Creek Provincial Park.
The BC Wildfire Management Society says more than 700 firefighters are battling the blaze. About 3,500 firefighters are working to put the fire under control.
The blaze is also known as the Kootenay fire.
It started in the Okanagan and is now moving north to the Kootenay regions.
BC Wildfire Management Society Chief Inspector Andrew McEvoy said the blaze is in the mountains and is burning in pine plantations and scrub.
He said the fire is also burning in the water.
“A significant amount of the fuel that is contributing to the fire is being burned in water. This makes it difficult to control,” he said.
McEvoy said the fires are burning in the middle of the night and there is a lot of smoke in the air.
“The smoke will be visible,” said McEvoy.
The smoke will be a problem