Residents in B.C. Interior resigned to yet more dangerous, smoky air due to wildfires

When Blake Tancock walked out of his downtown Kamloops office Monday afternoon, he shook his head as he saw the dense blanket of wildfire smoke over the entire city.

"Wish I had a mask on, I'll tell you that," he said.

Tancock has lived in Kamloops since 2009 and said this latest period of unhealthy air quality is the worst he's ever experienced.

"I will just stay inside, I'm not sure what else you can do," he said.

Tancock's sentiment was echoed by other residents who say they're resigned to periods of bad air quality as a result of yearly wildfires in the region.

Dense smoke rolled into many B.C. Interior cities last week after strong winds aggressively accelerated wildfires, led the province to declare a state of emergency along with travel restrictions, and forced tens of thousands of people from their homes due to the threat of fast-moving wildfires.

On Monday, the air quality health index (AQHI) for Kamloops was 10+, which is the worst rating and calls for people to avoid strenuous outdoor activities. On Tuesday it was still 8, with an improvement to 5 expected on Wednesday.

"Terrible, hard to breathe," said Mario Baliba, who has lived in Kamloops for 40 years, of the smokey air on Monday.

'It's just not healthy anymore'

Smoke completely blocked out the view of the hillside surrounding parts of the city. At a popular downtown park, the view across the South Thompson River was obscured. The smell of burning was pervasive outside and even in many indoor spaces.

"We've just been here for about an hour or so and I can already taste it," said Ignacio Serrahima, who was at Riverside Park with his wife and two-and-half year-old son.

"It's that thick that it's just not healthy anymore."

On Monday, Interior Health sent out guidance for people in the region to try and stay safe from the poor air.

It said people with chronic conditions, such as asthma, heart disease, or diabetes, as well as pregnant women, infants, and young children, are most affected by wildfire smoke.

The only real coping mechanism, it continued, was to limit exposure such as by staying inside, using air purifiers and wearing masks.

On Monday and parts of Tuesday morning, people seemed to be heeding the warning as Kamloops's downtown was quiet, with few people walking about and some businesses even closing early.

"Everyone I've talked to has cancelled plans, nobody is going outside, nobody wants to be caught out in this, nobody wants to breath it," said Samantha Knox, who have lived in Kamloops for five years.

Also keeping people away is an order that restricts travel to B.C.'s southern Interior for the purpose of staying in temporary accommodations such as a hotel, motel or campground, so that those spaces can be kept open for wildfire evacuees. That order is set to be lifted for several areas at midnight Wednesday.

A vast area of B.C.'s Central and Southern Interior continues to be under a smoky skies bulletin with the next update to be issued Wednesday.

In the meantime, some people in B.C.'s southern Interior say they've noticed a change in recent years to more frequent, more intense and longer periods of unhealthy air quality due wildfire smoke.

Katina Gervasi has lived in Kamloops for 16 years, after moving away following a childhood in the city.

"I don't remember it being like this, when I was a kid. I lived here until I was eight when I was young and it never got like this, so my question is why does it get so out of hand now?" she said.

'Consider leaving'

The B.C. Centre for Disease Control says wildfires and smoke have always occurred in British Columbia, but they are becoming more frequent and severe as the climate changes.

It has a detailed section on its website with information and best practices for coping with periods of bad air.

But some are considering even more drastic moves. Katlyn Ocampo moved to Kamloops from Winnipeg two years ago. She's not sure how much longer she'll stay.

"Just the amount of wildfires, I never really realized how bad it was when I moved out to B.C.," she said.

"It's honestly made me consider leaving the province, just with my asthma. I never had asthma until I moved out here and like my asthma is really bad, like I always have to have my inhaler."