Environment Canada ends air quality advisories for southeastern B.C.

VANCOUVER – Environment Canada says it has ended its air quality advisories for southeastern British Columbia.

The previously issued alerts spanned the Okanagan and Kootenay regions, extending north to the Cariboo and Yellowhead.

The advisories were attributed to wildfires burning locally and south of the border in Washington and Idaho.

The weather office had expected the conditions to persist for the next two days, but now says fire smoke concentrations have reduced enough over the past 24 hours that the advisories were safe to end.

This comes as four so-called ‘wildfires of note’ continue to burn across the province, with three in the Prince George Fire Centre area and one in the Coastal Fire Centre region.

The BC Wildfire Service took to Twitter Sunday, saying “abnormally strong winds” were contributing to the growth and spread of the fires, while smoke had reduced visibility “limiting fire suppression operations.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 5, 2022.