Canadian wildfires force 17,000 to evacuate; smoke expected to hit the U.S. this weekend

Yahoo

2 days ago

Smoke from massive wildfires that are burning out of control across western and central Canada, forcing tens of thousands of residents to evacuate, is expected to move south toward the U.S. and reduce air quality across multiple northern states on Friday and Saturday.
The fires have pushed the leaders of Canada's Manitoba and Saskatchewan provinces to declare states of emergency, while other provinces, including Alberta and Ontario, are facing an 'extreme' risk of wildfires on Friday — the highest level on Environment Canada's risk scale.
"The conditions that our northern residents, communities and wildland firefighters are facing today are as severe or quite likely unlike anything we have faced in quite some time, if not ever," Scott Moe, the premier of Saskatchewan, said at a press conference Thursday.
Here's what we know.
On Thursday, the country raised its National Preparedness Level, which describes the wildfire activity and demand for firefighters and equipment, to a 5, which is unusually high for this time of year. In 2024, Canada did not reach that level until mid-July.
Roughly 17,000 residents have been evacuated from the affected areas, including the entire town of Flin Flon, where about 5,000 people live.
This is 'the largest evacuation Manitoba will have seen in most people's living memory,' Premier Wab Kinew told reporters on Wednesday. 'This is a moment of fear and uncertainty. This is a moment of concern.'
As fires continue to grow throughout the country, residents in Saskatchewan have also been ordered to evacuate.
As of Friday morning, a state of emergency is still in effect in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, and more than 80 fires have been classified as 'out of control.'
The wildfire smoke is expected to travel south on Friday, therefore impacting parts of the U.S. over the weekend. While the smoke is anticipated to blow southward across the central and eastern states by Sunday, an expected wind pattern change from the south on Monday into Tuesday might help improve air quality, according to the Weather Channel.
Winds blowing from north to south are likely to push the wildfire smoke into Midwestern states throughout Friday.
Air quality alerts are in effect for Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin, according to the National Weather Service. The Air Quality Index (AQI), a color-coded numerical scale that helps people understand the health risks and exposures to airborne pollutants at any given time, is predicted to reach a level 3 or 4 in these areas. It's therefore recommended that residents who have conditions like heart disease or asthma keep windows closed and avoid going outside. (You can find your local AQI forecast by entering your ZIP code here.)
States that may experience smoky skies throughout Friday also include:
Montana
North Dakota
South Dakota
Nebraska
Kansas
Iowa
Missouri
Indiana
Ohio
The heaviest smoke concentrations are expected to be in:
North Dakota
South Dakota
Minnesota
Iowa
Around the Great Lakes
Moderate smoke could reach Chicago, St. Louis and Detroit by Friday evening. The highest concentrations of the wildfire smoke are expected to be around the Great Lakes.
By Saturday, forecasters say that light to moderate smoke may even extend to parts of the East Coast, although it's uncertain whether it will be enough smoke to reduce air quality.
Wildfire smoke is mostly made up of microscopic particulate matter with elements like acids, chemicals, metals, soil and dust from whatever the fire is burning, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
When inhaled, these elements can go deep inside a person's lungs and bloodstream, and research has proven that this inhalation from wildfire smoke is more dangerous to humans than pollution from other sources.
Small particles of the smoke could stay in the air and continue moving throughout the area even weeks after the fires go out.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that wildfire smoke can affect people immediately, causing physical reactions like wheezing, asthma attacks and chest pain.
Canada had its worst wildfire season on record in June 2023, when more than 45 million acres burned. The previous record was set in 1995, when 17.5 million acres burned.
Tens of thousands of Canadians were displaced for months as historically poor air quality drifted south into the U.S. The smoke from the Canadian wildfires engulfed the East Coast in an unusual, orange, low-visibility haze.
By the end of 2023, Canada had experienced more than 6,000 wildfires. In June alone, more land burned in southern Quebec than in the previous 20 years combined.
'There's no question, extreme weather, record high temperatures and dry conditions caused by climate change intensified this year's wildfire crisis,' Jonathan Boucher, a Canadian Forest Services scientist, told Natural Resources Canada in December 2024.