Smoke from Canadian wildfires is again putting air quality at risk across Southeast Alaska, including Haines.
The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation issued an air quality advisory on Tuesday warning of potentially unhealthy air. The initial advisory lasts till Thursday, Aug. 3, but could be extended for additional days if weather patterns continue.
According to the advisory, air quality should range between ‘good’ and ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups.’
Mark Smith, who oversees air quality alerts for DEC, said the most likely scenario is some haze in the mornings as smoke blows through in the upper atmosphere. Since the weather pattern is expected to continue for several days, some of the smokewill settle into valleys like the Chilkat, but overall the effect will be relatively minor.
“The main impact will be haze,” said Smith.
Smith said the smoke is now coming from wildfires in the Northwest Territories that have been burning most of the summer. Earlier this year, smoke blew in from wildfires in British Columbia. Canada has had a record number of acres burned this year. So far, the fires in Canada have burned an area nearly the size of the state of Louisiana. Alaska’s wildfire season began only recently after lightning strikes in the interior. According to the Bureau of Land Management’s Aug. 1 update, there are 136 fires burning in the Interior.