By Vincent Papequash

Smokey Skies

Prince George still smokey from fires in US

Sep 18, 2020 | 2:39 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – The skies are still smokey in Prince George, and it’s been a few days. It starts off in the morning coupled with fog, reducing visibility before the fog lifts in the afternoon.

Yet, the smoke lingers and continues to impact visibility and air quality throughout the rest of the day. Yesterday, The Weather Network compared the air quality in Victoria right now to be equivalent to smoking 40 cigarettes in a week.

Peter Jackson, Environmental Science professor at UNBC says, “the fog itself is not particularly harmful, it’s just water droplets.”

He adds that smoke is also a factor in what we are seeing, “of course with the fires in the western US, a lot of that smoke is making it’s way into British Columbia. The further north you are the better it is, in terms of smoke. So, southern BC, the lower mainland, the southern interior vallies are impacted pretty heavily by the smoke in Oregon.”

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Eryn Collins, Regional Manager of Public Affairs and Media Relations at Northern Health spoke to us.

Collins says “we do know that people who have pre-existing health conditions, particularly respiratory conditions, which could now include COVID-19, but also other people with chronic conditions, can be more likely to experience health effects from smoke exposure.”

Collins says that Northern Health is advising people to stop or reduce outdoor activity. Those with a chronic illness who have been prescribed medication should keep their medication with them at all times.