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Air quality advisory back in effect as Vancouver blanketed by wildfire smoke

About 600 wildfires were burning across B.C. as of Monday

The North Shore mountains all but disappeared and the beaches were barren Monday, save for a few pockets of tourists.

Despite Saturday’s minimal drops of rain and wind, air quality across Vancouver has once again tanked.

Metro Vancouver’s most recent air quality advisory was issued Monday around 10 a.m., notifying particular portions of the population to stay indoors or avoid strenuous activity: infants and the elderly, those with diabetes, lung or heart disease.

The region’s two-day reprieve from air quality advisories is over due to hundreds of fires that started overnight Sunday.

There’s no indication as to when local advisories will be lifted. When that happens will be determined by wind patterns, temperature changes and how those hundreds of fires across the Pacific Northwest continue to burn and behave.

As of Monday morning, 600 wildfires were burning across B.C.

Very few people were out Monday morning when the Courier visited Jericho Beach, Spanish Banks and the Seawall adjacent to Olympic Village.

A lifeguard at Jericho said only one person attempted the water Monday despite the beach’s recent closure to swimming on account of high E.coli levels. The lifeguard noted it was the beach’s first closure because of E.coli in 33 years.

Only small pockets of people lined the beach, to the point that it resembled a day in early November rather than mid-August.

A homeless man who goes by the moniker “Stretch” said air quality at Jericho was so bad Monday morning that he could barely breathe.

“I have asthma, so my eyes were burning really bad,” he said. “And in the early morning, you couldn’t see across to the North Shore at all.”

While June and July were tame comparative to last year, peak fire season appeared to arrive over the weekend, so much so that the province is calling for federal intervention. Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth is asking the feds for 200 firefighters along with more aircraft for firefighters and evacuees.

Twenty-seven evacuation orders affecting about 3,100 people (1,537 properties), in addition to 43 evacuation alerts impacting roughly 18,000 people (8,909 properties) were in place Monday.

Close to 3,500 firefighting personnel are spread throughout B.C., including those with the B.C. Wildfire Service, municipal firefighters, private contractors, crews from other provinces, and even others from as far away as Mexico, Australia and New Zealand.

“This is an urgent situation, and the safety of British Columbians is our highest priority,” Farnworth said in a news release. “Due to the increase in the number of wildfires affecting communities and the extreme wildfire behaviour we are seeing, we’re asking for federal assistance for additional resources that may be needed to protect the public, property and infrastructure.”

To report a wildfire or open burning violation, call *5555.

@JohnKurucz