Canadian wildfires trigger air quality warnings in Hamilton and much of southern Ontario
CBC
Smoke from hundreds of forest fires burning in Quebec and Ontario is pushing air pollution in Hamilton and much of southern Ontario to dangerous levels.
Environment Canada has issued special air quality statements for large areas of Ontario and Quebec, including Hamilton, the Greater Toronto Area, Windsor, Barrie and London and most of northern Quebec. The agency says people with lung or heart disease, older adults, children and others are at higher risk of suffering adverse health effects of forest fires smoke.
Conditions aren't expected to improve until tomorrow night.
Toronto, Chicago and Detroit now occupy three of the top four spots on Air-I-Q's global ranking for poor air quality. As of this morning, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates tops the list of major cities with a significant score of 411 — putting its air quality in the "Hazardous" category. Detroit ranks second, followed by Chicago, and Toronto in fourth, with an "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups" rating of 159.
The Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre's website shows there are 487 active fires burning across the country this morning, with 253 of them classified as out of control. As of Tuesday afternoon, there were 66 active fires in Northern Ontario, and as of this morning, 76 fires were burning across Quebec.