Slight uptick in 911 calls as people cope with heavy smoke, haze
Posted August 3, 2017 11:35 am.
Last Updated August 3, 2017 6:22 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – For another day in a row, there is a thick haze hovering over the Lower Mainland has people try to cope with the ongoing smoke drifting in from wildfires in the Interior.
Environment Canada has a special weather statement in place and Metro Vancouver has issued an air quality advisory. The latter agency says the advisory will continue until the weather pattern shifts, but we don’t know exactly when that will be.
NEWS 1130‘s Darren Grieve, who usually spends his mornings in the NEWS 1130 Air Patrol, was forced to land soon after take-off because the smoke was so thick it became unsafe to be in the air. He says the smoke today was worse than previous days.
Metro Vancouver says high concentrations of particulate matter will persist and concentrations of ground-level ozone are also now expected to reach advisory levels in the eastern areas of Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley because it’s so hot.
Hot temperatures can be dangerous especially if you have:
- breathing difficulties
- heart problems
- hypertension
- kidney problems
- a mental illness such as depression or dementia
- Parkinson’s disease or if you take medication for any of these conditions
Joe Acker with BC Emergency Health Services says the group has seen a slight increase in the number of 911 calls for breathing related problems. “Typically we would see five per of our 911 calls being breathing-related and over the last two weeks we’ve seen about seven per cent of our calls being breathing-related.”
He adds the calls are coming from some specific groups. “Most often they’re from asthmatic patients or people that have pre-existing respiratory problems. A lot of them are the elderly who are susceptible to respiratory problems associated with wildfire smoke and we are also seeing some children and young people who are also at more high risk.”
Acker thinks this trend will continue as long as the weather conditions are poor.
Environment Canada says a massive ridge of high pressure will remain over southern BC. Daytime highs will soar into the mid-30s through Friday for communities in the Fraser Valley, Howe Sound, Whistler and Inland Vancouver Island.
Temperatures will be several degrees cooler closer to the Straits of Georgia and Juan de Fuca.
The heat combined with the lack of any rainfall recently means the fire danger rating across much of southern BC is still at extreme.
Click here to check air quality levels.
