Smog from forest fires reaches several regions, including Montreal, possibly hampering F1 activities

MONTREAL – About 104 forest fires remain active in Quebec on Thursday morning, and their smoke is expected to cover much of the province during the day.

Environment Canada issued smog warnings for several areas of Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Laurentides and Outaouais early Tuesday. The poor air quality is due to high concentrations of fine particles caused by forest fires, the agency said.

Smoke is expected to reach the St. Lawrence Valley and Montreal Thursday. The whole of Quebec could feel it by mid-day, but the metropolitan region, Lanaudière and Mauricie will be the most affected, according to the FireSmoke forecasting tool.

“Smog particularly affects asthmatic children and people with respiratory or cardiac illnesses. It is therefore recommended that they avoid strenuous outdoor activities until the smog warning is lifted”, reminds Environment Canada.

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Quebec’s public security minister François Bonnardel is recommending people in the Montreal, Outaouais, Laurentians, and Lanaudière areas close their windows as of Thursday evening and if possible do not engage in outdoor physical activity.

Formula 1 activities may be affected

Hundreds of thousands of are taking over the streets of downtown Montreal, due to the official launch of Grand Prix weekend.

Some tourists came equipped, knowing of the wildfire situation in Quebec,

“We brought our N95 masks and it’s a sad thing about the fires,” said Marianne Saitta from Seattle. “We’re all as a community, kind of participating in the fallout, which is not good.”

“If it gets really bad, I’ll wear a mask,” says Ed Valik from Oregon. “I have to see how it how it goes on a race day.”

“We had some fires in Oregon a couple of years ago and it was much worse than this,” he added. “So we were actually expecting to be a little bit worse than it is today.”

“I’m concerned mostly for people who are older or for our kids,” says Alain Creton, president of the Association of Peel Street Merchants.

Those who are pregnant and with respiratory problems are also at risk.

Side effects of smog can include itchy eyes and cold-like symptoms.

“With the air quality index, what you want is of the lowest number possible because that means that the air is cleanest and Montreal, for the overwhelming majority of the year actually has good air quality, so that means that they are below the threshold of about 50,” says infectious diseases specialist and medical microbiologist, Dr. Donald Vinh. “However, what we saw with the forest fires of about a few weeks ago is that the air quality significantly worsened. We want to be below 50. And with the forest fires, the air quality above Montreal was somewhere around 120.”

By midday Thursday, air quality in the city was moderate, just as Montreal’s environment department released their annual report. It showed air quality has been worse off since the pandemic, with 33 days of poor air quality in 2022, including four of smog.

READ: City of Montreal report: fewer smog days in 2022, more poor air quality days

“The inhalation of poor quality air can compromise the health of a variety of people,” said Dr. Vinh. “Now, when you also add a super or superimposed on top of that poor quality air from forest fires or wildfires there, you’re also adding another level of threat because it’s not just pollutions and toxins from the combustion of a forest material, you’re also talking about an increase in the amount of gases that can be dangerous.”

A Grand Prix of Canada spokesperson tells CityNews they’re monitoring the situation and are in contact with public health officials. The air quality is expected to improve by Friday.

“We’re not going to change our plans, we’re going to do everything we plan to,” says Valik.

Fires still raging 

Although several fires have been brought under control, including the one near Fermont that broke out in recent days, others are still raging. These include those near Lebel-sur-Quévillon and Mistissini, in Northern Quebec.

Some 2,000 residents of Lebel-sur-Quévillon remain evacuated. The Quebec forest fire prevention agency – SOPFEU – estimated on Wednesday that between 300,000 and 350,000 hectares are in flames around the town.

In total, nearly 1.3 million hectares of forest have been affected by fire this year. That’s 400 times more than the annual average for the past 10 years.

During a visit to Saguenay on Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau assured us that Canada can count on reinforcements from foreign firefighters this summer.

A total of 1,200 firefighters are at work in Quebec, including New Brunswickers, French, Americans, Portuguese and Spanish.

Quebec’s public security ministry and SOPFEU are expected to provide an update on the forest fire situation at around 10:30 a.m. on Thursday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on June 15,2023.