Update:
By Saturday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. the air quality index was listed as moderate.
Original story:
The smoke is back in Williams Lake Saturday morning, but not as thick as it was for many days in August.
As of 12 noon the B.C. Ministry of Environment’s air quality index listed Williams Lake as 10-plus or very high, showing it is expected to go to five, which is still considered moderate, as the day unfolds, and then to three or low by evening.
For the last 24 hours, the air quality measuring station located behind the Lake City Secondary Columneetza Campus showed at 12 p.m. the particulate matter (PM2.5) levels at 24.9 micrograms per cubic metre.
The hourly measurement average was 102.8 micrograms per cubic metre.
Ideally the levels should be between five and 15 micrograms.
According to the Ministry of Health the Interior of the province saw 1,500 more inhalers prescribed, or a 37 per cent increase.
Read more: B.C. sees 25% jump in inhaler use from wildfire smoke
Cariboo Fire Centre information officer Robyn Clark said there are 49 active wildfires in the region.
Clark said there were strong winds across the fire centre Friday, which could possibly account for smoke arriving in the Williams Lake area.
“There is fog in some areas too, which could account for what we are seeing as well,” Clark added.
A wildfire newsletter posted by the Cariboo Fire Centre on Friday, noted since April 1, 2018 there have been 305 fires to date, 63,860 hectares burned, 23 fires were human-caused, 255 were lightning caused and the cause has not been determined for 27 of the fires.
Comparatively that data for 2017 in the Cariboo Fire Centre was 268 fires, 816,379 hectares burned, 63 human-caused fires, 202 lightning caused fires and three undetermined caused fires.
Environment Canada’s forecast indicates the Williams Lake area will see increasing cloudiness Saturday afternoon with a high of 15C.
There is a 60 percent chance of showers overnight and predicted lows of 6C.
Sunday Sept. 2 is also supposed to cloudy with a 70 percent chance of showers and risk of a thunderstorm in the afternoon, with highs of 13C.
Despite the cooling trend, the campfire ban across the region remains in effect.
This prohibition does not apply to cooking stoves that use gas, propane or briquettes. It also does not apply to a portable campfire ap-paratus with a CSA or ULC rating that uses bri-quettes, liquid or gaseous fuel, with a flame length of 15 centimetres or less. The use of a portable campfire apparatus that does not meet these conditions is prohibited.
This story was updated at noon to reflect the air quality index change from 10 a.m. Saturday morning
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