Haze clears over Calgary with dozens of wildfires still burning in the province

Wildfires continue to burn in Alberta and additional evacuation orders have been put in place near the B.C. border as the smoke that lingered in Calgary over the weekend somewhat cleared overnight.

There are now 61 active wildfires in the province, 22 of which are deemed out of control. In northern Alberta, five communities are on an evacuation order.

A fire raging on the B.C. side jumped into Alberta on Friday and forced officials to call for evacuation orders in the county of Grande Prairie that have since been expanded.

Fire bans are in effect across much of the province to try to lower the risk of new fires taking hold, or adding fuel to those already burning. Conditions in much of the province’s forest areas are deemed to be at extreme wildfire risk.

On Saturday night in Calgary, Environment Canada’s air quality index was considered high risk. Things have cleared up since, but with dozens of fires still burning in Alberta and neighbouring provinces, it’s bound to make a return.

660 NewsRadio meteorologist Kevin Stanfield says as smoky as it was, Calgary kind of dodged a bullet.

“There’s a lot of wildfire activity to the north and northwest of us, and our wind pattern, our mid-level winds have largely been blowing from west to east,” he says.

Stanfield says there is significant smoke from Canadian wildfires that are currently occupying areas to the east and south of the border like Minnesota, Illinois, and Ohio.

He says it’s tough to predict when Calgary will get hit with another wave of haze.

“It depends, right now the way our wind direction is looking, most of that smoke will continue blowing largely to the east,” he says. “We can expect that that smoke will have a limited local impact.”

Tips to protect yourself on hazy days

When the air quality index hits moderate to high like it did on the weekend, it’s recommended that people try to keep their windows and limit any strenuous activities outdoors.

EMS public education officer Stuart Brideaux says smoke can be sneaky.

“I think what catches people off guard is how the air quality does change,” he says. “Sometimes you see a drastic change in air quality and that’s when problems can arise.”

Brideaux says if you can smell smoke, than you’re breathing it in. If that’s the case, he recommends people try to move environments with conditioned air — whether that be their own homes, or large public spaces like universities, malls, or movie theatres.

He says most face masks won’t help protect individuals from wildfire smoke due to the tiny nature of smoke particulates.

“Masks are only really effective if they have a proper seal, they would need to be essentially N95,” he says.