Flights at several airports in B.C.’s Interior and West Kootenay regions have been cancelled or delayed Sunday as wildfire smoke continues to choke the province.
Kelowna International Airport, Penticton Regional Airport and the West Kootenay Airport in Castlegar all reported several flights cancelled by noon PT.
Sean Parker, the on-call airport manager in Kelowna, said there’s less than one kilometre of visibility, which means smaller planes can’t land safely.
Timelapse video showing from the Kelowna airport:
He said he hasn’t seen such thick wildfire smoke in years.
“To be honest with you, I’ve personally never seen it this bad,” he said. “You look out the window here in Kelowna … It’s like we’re in a fog.”
In a statement Sunday, Air Canada said its flights to and from the Interior could continue to be affected due to smoke and visibility.
Those with travel plans are advised to check the flight information page on their airport’s official website or social media channels.
Majority of B.C. under ‘special statement’
Environment Canada said much of the province is under a special weather statement because of smoke. Only the far north and part of the western coast are clear.
Air quality in Castlegar, Kamloops, Prince George, Quesnel, Whistler and Williams Lake was set at a “very high” health-risk rating of 10 or higher on Sunday.
The Okanagan, eastern Fraser Valley and Metro Vancouver regions had the same rating.
<a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Penticton?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#Penticton</a> hidden by <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/BCWildfire?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#BCWildfire</a> smoke, and haze blanketing Skaha Lake in the Okanagan. Video by <a href=”https://twitter.com/katedonegani?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@katedonegani</a>. <a href=”https://twitter.com/cbcnewsbc?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@cbcnewsbc</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/CBCNews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@CBCNews</a> <a href=”https://t.co/xgAPYqqoye”>pic.twitter.com/xgAPYqqoye</a>
—@DanBurritt
The elderly, children and people with pre-existing health conditions in those areas should stay inside.
Environment Canada meteorologist Allan Coldwells said smoke “is going to be an issue for the next five days,” compounded by even more smoke that has floated north from wildfires in Washington state.
Wildfire size mostly unchanged
The status of the wildfires across the province has largely held over the weekend.
On Sunday, fire information officer Kyla Fraser said the corridor between Smithers and Prince George is still the biggest area of concern given the size and intensity of the fires there.
The Shovel Lake fire — the province’s largest — has scorched 85,000 hectares west of Prince George.
Firefighters have set up their tents in Fraser Lake as they continue to fight the nearby Shovel Lake wildfire. (Albert Gerow)
In the southeast corner of the province, thousands of people in Kimberley are still on evacuation alert.
Fraser said the nearby Meachen Creek wildfire stayed relatively the same size on Saturday night.
More fire information:
- B.C. is in its fifth day of a province-wide state of emergency. There are more than 560 wildfires burning across the province.
- People living in more than 2,800 properties have been forced to leave, while 11,300 more properties are under evacuation alerts.
- On Friday, the province announced it would match donations to the Red Cross for people affected by wildfires up to $20 million.
- The B.C. Wildfire Service said its cost for fighting fires so far this season has topped $242 million.
- More than 100 Canadian Armed Forces have been deployed to help B.C. personnel.
- Wildfire smoke over western Canada is visible from NASA’s DSCOVR satellite — about 1.6 million kilometres away.
B.C. wildfire map:
B.C. evacuation map:
With files from Anis Heydari, Allison Dempster, Zahra Premji and The Canadian Press
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