‘I can taste the air’: Canadian wildfire smoke spreads hazardous haze at home and in the US

Smoke from Canadian wildfires poured into the U.S. East Coast and Midwest on Wednesday, covering the capitals of both nations in an unhealthy haze, holding up flights at major airports and prompting people to fish out pandemic-era face masks.

While Canadian officials asked other countries for help fighting more than 400 blazes nationwide that already have displaced 20,000 people, air quality with what the U.S. rates as hazardous levels of pollution extended into central New York. Massive tongues of unhealthy air extended as far as Virginia and Indiana, affecting millions of people.

“I can taste the air,” Dr. Ken Strumpf said in a Facebook post from Syracuse, New York, which was enveloped in an amber pall. The smoke, he later said by phone, even made him a bit dizzy.

In Baltimore, where officials warned residents to stay indoors when possible, Debbie Funk sported a blue surgical mask as she and husband, Jack Hughes, took their daily walk around Fort McHenry, a national monument overlooking the Patapsco River. The air hung thick over the water, obscuring the horizon as distant ships pushed slowly through the haze.

“I walked outside this morning, and it was like a waft of smoke,” said Funk, who said the couple had considered skipping the walk but wanted some exercise. The two planned to stay inside later Wednesday.

Canadian officials say this is shaping up to be the nation’s worst wildfire season ever. It started early on drier-than-usual ground and accelerated very quickly, exhausting firefighting resources across the country, fire and environmental officials said.

Smoke from the blazes in various parts of the country has been lapping into the U.S. since last month but intensified with a recent spate of fires in Quebec, where more than 100 were burning and considered out of control Tuesday.

“The smoke was insane yesterday. I had to close my window because the fresh air just smelled like campfire,” said Zachary Kamel, 36, of Montreal.

Quebec Premier François Legault has said the province has the capacity to fight about 40 fires at the moment — and the usual reinforcements from other provinces have been strained by fires in Nova Scotia and elsewhere.

Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre spokesperson Jennifer Kamau said more than 950 firefighters and other personnel have already arrived from the U.S., Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, and more will be arriving soon.

The largest town in Northern Quebec — Chibougamau, population about 7,500 — was evacuated Tuesday, after another Quebec community was left to burn Monday, drawing the ire of local residents. Legault said authorities had no choice because the fire around the hamlet of Clova was too intense to send in water bombers. No homes had burned as of Tuesday.

Eastern Quebec got some rain Wednesday, but Montreal-based Environment Canada meteorologist Simon Legault said no rain is expected for days in the remote areas of central Quebec where the wildfires are more intense.

U.S. National Weather Service meteorologist Zach Taylor said the current weather pattern in the central and eastern U.S. is essentially funneling in the smoke. Some rain should help clear the air somewhat in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic this weekend or early next week, though more thorough relief will come from containing or extinguishing the fires, he noted.

Across the border, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul warned the public to “prepare for this over the long haul,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams told residents to limit outdoor activities as much as possible.

The Federal Aviation Administration paused some flights bound for LaGuardia Airport and slowed planes to Newark Liberty because the smoke was limiting visibility. The smoke was also contributing to delayed arrivals at Dulles International Airport outside Washington.

Schools in multiple states canceled sports and other outdoor activities, shifting recess and lunchtime inside. Live horse racing was canceled Wednesday and Thursday at Delaware Park Wilmington. Organizers of Global Running Day, a virtual 5K and celebration of running, posted a warning on their website advising participants to monitor the air quality in their cities and change their running plans accordingly.

Some political demonstrations in spots from Manhattan to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, were moved indoors or postponed, and striking Hollywood writers were pulled off picket lines in the New York metropolitan area.

Sitting in a Brooklyn park with a black face mask on, nanny Meagan Bobb said she was surprised by how bad the air was.

“The little girl was coughing, and I was having problems breathing when I was walking around, so we’re looking to go inside somewhere soon,” Bobb said.

The smoke exacerbated health problems for people such as Vicki Burnett, 67, who has asthma and has had serious bouts with bronchitis.

After taking her dogs out Wednesday morning in Farmington Hills, Michigan, Burnett said, “I came in and started coughing and hopped back into bed.”

Still, she stressed that she’s concerned for Canadians, not just herself.

“It’s unfortunate, and I’m having some problems for it, but there should be help for them,” she said.

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