Cariboo Wildfires Likely to Blame for Smoky Conditions in P.G.
Prince George, B.C. – It’s smokier than usual in Prince George today but it’s not due to any fires in the immediate area.
Olivia Pojar, fire information officer with the BC Wildfire Service, says the smoke is coming from various places around western Canada.
“There’s a smoke forecasting website, firesmoke.ca, and according to that website it looks like most of that smoke is coming from the larger fires in the Cariboo.”
She says the most recent fire starts in the region occurred around Mackenzie and the Hudson’s Hope area.
“Yesterday there was six new fires, today, two new fires. But they’re all quite small – most are under .1 hectare. Most are lightning caused and two are out.”
Pojar says it’s “unlikely” those fires have contributed to the smoky conditions in Prince George today.
As for air quality, the Province says the concentration of PM 2.5 has been steadily rising since 11 this morning and at 2 o’clock was sitting at 128 micrograms per cubic metre.The 24-hour rolling average was at 32.1 micrograms per cubic metre. The provincial target is 25.
Comments
Attention smokers! Free smoke day! Go outside, inhale, exhale, repeat.
You too…enjoy
I find the 24-hour average to be a useless measure when it comes to immediate effect on people’s ability to breathe.
As the number of particles in the air increase, the average is always lower than the hourly average.
As it decreases with decreasing smoke, the daily average keeps going up for a few hours, while the air quality is improving.
The web site for the downtown monitor is located here: env.gov.bc.ca/epd/bcairquality/readings/map/station.html#E309446
The instrument has been relocated from the roof of Plaza 400 for a couple of months while the roof is undergoing maintenance.
The temporary location is at the PG District Energy Building on 2nd Avenue.
At 4pm August 30, 2017, the one-hour average for PM2.5 was 162µg/m3. The 24 hour average was 44.2 at the same time.
For a person standing on the roof of the building at that time they would be breathing in air that was 4 times worse than the 24-hour average figure would tell them.
Reminds me of the 50’s, beehive burners on a dead air day, and dirty snow.
This is the largest fire and closest to the south west of PG
Fire in Cariboo, British Columbia
Type :WF
Projected Growth
Tuesday, August 29, 2017: 1924.945 acres (1 location)
Wednesday, August 30, 2017: 1924.945 acres (1 location)
Thursday, August 31, 2017: 1924.945 acres (1 location)
Friday, September 01, 2017: 1924.945 acres (1 location)
Saturday, September 02, 2017: 1924.945 acres (1 location)
FCCS Fuelbeds
#Unknown 1924.945 acres
Daily Emissions Modeled
PM2.5: 312.397 tons
PM10: 368.628 tons
Details at firesmoke.ca/forecasts/viewer/run/ops/BSC-CA-01/current
Click on modelled fires to view them
Just wondering, if the air quality is so bad, why can Acme and the City still run their street sweepers? It has been this way for most of the summer.
At 175 micrograms per cubic metre for the smoke in the air throughout most of the city, the addition of a little dust on a street isn’t going to change that number significantly.
The street sweeping operations have met their match with a forest fire 100+Km away sent this way with 10+km/hr winds. It is a drop in a bucket.
Proving once more that the pollution of man can be nothing when compared to the pollution of Mother Nature. ;-)
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