Wildfire smoke triggers air quality warnings across northern Ontario

Environment Canada issued air quality advisories in Northern Ontario as wildfire smoke drifted into the region. Madison Marier has more details.

Environment Canada issued an air quality alert for most of northern Ontario Wednesday as wildfire smoke continues to affect the region.

Evan Lizotte, a fire information officer, confirmed that the smoke originates from active wildfires in northwestern Ontario and western Canada.

“Parts of Ontario are being impacted by wildfire smoke, drift from active wildland fires from the northwest region of Ontario, as well as western Canada,” he said.

Sudbury sees spike in health risks

The Air Quality Health Index (AQHI) in Sudbury rose from 6 to 8, marking a shift from moderate to high risk. Adam Ranger, an Environmental Support Officer with Public Health Sudbury & Districts, explained the measures being taken to inform residents.

“With that advisory, we initiated a communication to alert the public that there potentially could be poor air quality today and to ensure that they’re taking measures to protect themselves,” he said.

Widespread advisories across northern communities

As of mid-afternoon, multiple northern Ontario communities were under air quality warnings:

• North Bay and Parry Sound reported an AQHI of 7.
• Sudbury’s index climbed to 8.
• Sault Ste. Marie reached 9.
• Thunder Bay faced the most severe conditions, with levels exceeding 10, according to Air Quality Ontario.

Health officials recommend precautions

Ranger advised residents to minimize exposure by staying indoors and taking additional precautions.

“During poor air quality, being indoors is a good way to avoid the exposure,” he said. “So, keeping doors and windows closed. If you do have an air conditioner, put it on recirculate to ensure that it’s not drawing air from outside back inside

Local wildfires add to smoke concerns

While much of the smoke is carried by wind from other regions, northeastern Ontario is currently monitoring 10 active wildland fires. Lizotte provided CTV News with some context on this year’s wildfire activity compared to previous years.

“Compared to last year, this season has been… we’ve had more fires than that season prior. But in the ten-year average, we’ve had 472 fires on average and 197,000 hectares burned,” he said. “So, we’re below the ten-year average for fires in the province, but we’re above in hectares burned.”

No fire restrictions, but masks recommended outdoors

Although there are no fire restrictions by the province in northeastern Ontario at this time, public health officials recommend wearing N95 masks for prolonged outdoor exposure and spending time in indoor public spaces to reduce health risks from poor air quality.