Smoke Blots Out City

Thursday, August 05, 2010 09:14 PM

Prince George, as seen from University Way at 8:30pm

Prince George, B.C. -- The view of the city from University Way has been completely blotted out this evening, with just the odd light blinking through the haze...

A faint smell of smoke began over the dinner hour and the plumes seemed to be carried in by the light wind.

As indicated in the previous story, there have been no sightings of any fires in or around the city...the smoke is the result of wildfires burning elsewhere.

The hazy skies did make for a spectacularly red sunset. It brought several residents living in the Foothills neighbourhood out of their homes for a look and to discuss the possible sources of the smoke.

One woman walking from her home on Ochakwin to Foothills Boulevard said she couldn't believe how acrid the air had become over the course of an hour.

She said she has a child who suffers from asthma, and he will be sleeping in the basement tonight.

The picture at left shows the view looking towards Cranbrook Hill, from Pilot Street.

And the picture below shows the smoke continuing into the downtown core, with a look at the intersection of 5th Avenue and Tabor Boulevard...

On University Hill, a number of motorists had pulled to the side of the road to check out the non-existent view...and take pictures...

The Aquatic Centre is in the left-hand corner of the picture below, just above the treeline...

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Posted on Thursday, August 05, 2010 09:14 PM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: gus on August 5 2010 9:52 PM

I am totally surprised of how unprepared we are for this and for how little people know what has been happening around their part of the province.

We went through a bit of this for 3 days or so some weeks ago. Subsequently, as reported on here, there were additional fires sparked by lightning within a week or so of that. A few days later there were reports from people driving north that visibility was down to not much over a km from Cache Creek to Quesnel. I think of the bigger communities, Williams Lake has been hardest hit.

So why have we not heard of that? Why are we so ill prepared for this as far as taking care of those who will be most affected? Or are we? Is this not really a big deal?

Seems to me that on many levels we are not prepared for this natural next phase of the transition from a forest killed by the beetle back to a healthy forest.

Due to the size, we are wrapped up in this much more than normal.

Posted by: Dragonmaster on August 5 2010 10:03 PM

Holy smokes Gus. Its only smoke from the many forest fires around our neck of the woods. You're making it sound like armageddon is upon us. Go on a vacation or something!

Posted by: gus on August 5 2010 10:06 PM

The first numbers from the monitors are finally coming in. It is almost 10pm and there is a number in from 8pm. This stuff rolled in between 7 and eight and the numbers reflect that.

PM2.5 at Plaza 400

9am - 23.8
10am - 35.8
11am - 53.6
12noon - 58.3
1pm - 57.3
2pm - 54.3
3pm - 52.9
4pm - 49.2
5pm - 32.0
6pm - 30.9
7pm - 29.0
8pm - 111.6 PM10=128.6

The numbers for 8pm are not in yet for gladstone school in CH

In Williams Lake the PM10 for 9pm is 161.8

Posted by: gus on August 5 2010 10:13 PM

I do not know about you Dragonmaster, but I have lived here since 1973 and I have never seen anything this bad.

Remember, there are people who have emphysema and asthma and other breathing problems. These kind of things not only can, but do, cause complications which can and do lead to an earlier demise. So, they should be prepared. That is all I am saying. Pretty simple I thought.

People prepare for hurricanes, why should they not prepare for this?

Remember there is a lot of dead wood between here and where the fires are. It will go eventually too and it will be worse than this then since it will not just waft in every now and then, but it will be more steady and heavier.

But hey, you are superhero and can live through it. Why should you give a chit about those who may have some difficulties?

Posted by: Dragonmaster on August 5 2010 10:27 PM

Theres that old Gus over reaction to everthing reply again. Now about that vacation?

Posted by: gus on August 5 2010 10:29 PM

The Meldrum fire is 15km west of Williams Lake ... over 180 square kilometres in size by now; discovered one week ago.

http://bcwildfire.ca/hprScripts/WildfireNews/OneFire.asp?ID=388

Anyone looking forward to one like that in PG later this month or September? How about next year?

Posted by: gus on August 5 2010 10:30 PM

And Dragon is under reacting .....

You would not happen to be the Minister of Forests, eh?

Posted by: prov1 on August 5 2010 10:35 PM

Sounds like you both need a life...this is why I do not come in here much...

Posted by: gus on August 5 2010 10:42 PM

"in here"???/

Do you actually get inside the computer?

Posted by: dnakamura on August 5 2010 11:45 PM

I agree with Gus about the under reporting and minimizing the severity of the current state of our forests and communities.
Some of us definitely live in our own little worlds. I've heard people complaining about their holidays being ruined because of the smoke. Hello! Maybe if you knew that there were currently 500 forest fires around the province, chances are if you're traveling within BC you will be affected by the smoke.
I am staying put this summer and I'm grateful to be safe in Prince George...for the time being. Unfortunately folks with respiratory problems are not safe and my heart goes out to them.

Posted by: Eagleone on August 6 2010 1:34 AM

I was telling a friend tonight it would be a tough night at the old folks homes I can imagine. People will likely die from this... those on the edge already... its bad... I've lived here my whole life and never seen it this thick... seen it thicker once one summer as a kid in Penticton when it was burning in the hills around the town... but this is bad and Gus brings up some good points.

Posted by: whatintheheck on August 6 2010 6:06 AM

I agree, Eagleone, this will affect a lot of people's health.

Posted by: uyterlindekel on August 6 2010 7:49 AM

I can believe how people on here need reporting done for them! It's smokey. We are going to burn (We = BC). Remember the bug wood? IT hasn't been cleaned up and the natural order of things is to BURN! I get that some suffer more than others I tend to suffer too BUT, I don't need some over reactive media to sensationalize EVERYTHING and tell me what I need to do. I have this old fashioned sense that is no linger common. This smoke is no where near heavy enough for us to be evacuated. If there was a fire closer, we'd know it. I rarely come to this site anymore because of all the melodrama and negativity.

Posted by: PaysHisOwnWay on August 6 2010 9:09 AM

It is all mother nature's plan.

The "weak" trees will be recycled creating a byproduct (smoke) .....the "weak" humans breathing that smoke will be recycled as well.

Posted by: Lamb on August 6 2010 10:33 AM

CBC suggested it came in from Russia. Makes sense to me. The smell was so acrid and it descended so quickly it was not like a normal forest fire. Hope everyone is okay

Posted by: DPJ on August 6 2010 10:36 AM

Have the forest fires burn up the chinese restaurant and there lousy attitude towards there employees.

Posted by: bowzone_mikey on August 6 2010 10:46 AM

Gus ... If you have lived here since 1973 and you never seen anything as bad as it was last night ... then you obviously were not around during the stoner/hixon and red rock fires of the early 90s ...and you obviosly were not here in mid to late june of this year when Greer creek smoke socked us in for 3 days

Honestly .. all this smoke and whatnot is Human fault ... Nature has for a millenia clensed itself with fires they would burn for a while then get put out with rain etc...the whole planet is not scorched .... over the last century or so we have fought that cycle thus leaving a buttload of dry fuel in the forest ....

Its only gonna get worse

Posted by: gus on August 6 2010 10:47 AM

"This smoke is no where near heavy enough for us to be evacuated."

Did anyone say that?

However, that being said, no doubt you never heard of the killer fog of 1952 in London, England which was primarily due to smog of particulates that were carbon based, very similar to wood burning. That was the worst of many such events in an industrial city.

Of course they did not evacuate. That was not a small town such as Nazko, for instance.

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/education/teens/casestudy_great_smog.html

Posted by: gus on August 6 2010 11:02 AM

I was around for both. The Greer Creek smoke was not as bad as the one last night. Ask the MoE to dig out the monitor records.

It all depends where one lives in PG. It is not the same everywhere. I live near foothills and it was very difficult to see the ridge of Cranbrook Hill from my place 1/2 km away. I took some videos from pinecone subdivison panning across the escarpment which disappeared almost as soon as I panned away from the perpendicular direction field of vision.

http://i38.tinypic.com/2qv5bpe.jpg

You can see the spikes go off the charts. on the above info from the monitoring stations at Plaza and at Gladstone. As I said, they are different in different. Not unlike thundershowers, one part of the city gets drenched, another stays bone dry.

It was worse at my place than it was at CH where I was by 8:30pm.

You have your experience and I have mine. Both are valid because they are from different locations and based on different subjective sensitivities. Perhaps you can talk to your doctor about that simple human condition of variability we are stuck with. You might be surprised at what you will learn. :-)

Posted by: Harbinger on August 6 2010 12:41 PM

Too warm to use my wood stove. Drat! Who would know? I can see if wood stoves were the only cause of this kind of air always, but alas.....

Posted by: DPJ on August 6 2010 12:43 PM

What website did you find these graphs Gus?

Posted by: gus on August 6 2010 1:08 PM

http://www.bcairquality.ca/readings/index.html

Click on the city, move the map with your cursor to see the locations of monitors. For PG they are Gladstone + Plaza + BCR (only pm10 for BCR)

That opens up a new panel to the top right.

Move the cursor over the numbers and they will turn blue as it moves over them. Click on the one you want and you will see a 24 hour graph for weather or air monitor info.