TORONTO – Wildfires in Canada: extreme emergency in several provinces, so that Prime Minister Mark Carney has decided to call in the Canadian Armed Forces. In particular, the military will help evacuate a First Nations community in northwestern Ontario, as forest fires spread rapidly in the region as well as in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

Carney says that Ottawa has accepted Ontario’s urgent request for assistance in and around the Aboriginal community of Sandy Lake and that the military will assist with emergency evacuations via an airlift. The Red Lake 12 fire, near the community of Deer Lake, is out of control, extending over 1,500 square kilometres and was threatening the community of Sandy Lake since Saturday evening.

In addition to the fire emergency, there is also the smoke emergency: early Friday afternoon, Toronto’s air quality was ranked second worst in the world (in a bad way), according to data from IQAir, a Swiss air quality monitoring agency. And around 4:15 p.m., the city actually recorded the worst air quality in the world. The reason: smoke from wildfires raging across several provinces, which has also poured into Toronto and the GTA. The situation has prompted Environment Canada to issue a special air quality statement for the GTA, much of Southern Ontario, as well as five other provinces and one territory. In Toronto in particular, the air quality index peaked at 7 out of 10 on Friday, a “high risk” rating. Then, the situation improved slightly and on the government website that publishes updated data in real time (here), today was reported a level of 5, that is “moderate risk” (the risk remains “high” in other areas of Ontario and Canada). 

Many Torontonians, however, continue to experience also today occasional smoky odors and irritation to their eyes, nose, and throat. Additionally, the sky remained “hazy” throughout the weekend, with the sun at times almost “obscured” by a blanket similar to smoke (as in the pic above, that we took this morning at 6:45 a.m. in York Mills and Leslie).

Environment Canada’s David Phillips told CP24 that while the air quality index is expected to “fluctuate” in Toronto, “smelly air” will persist into the start of the week.

Here are some tips to follow when air quality is poor: limit the time spent outdoors, reducing or rescheduling outdoor sports, activities, and events. And of course, people with respiratory conditions, pregnant women, the elderly, and young children need to be even more careful, as they are more likely to be affected by air pollution.