Wednesday, July 19, 2017

WILD FIRES

      At the present time there are many wildfires in British Columbia, the province to the west of us. At one time they said there were 176 fires burning. It's been hot, dry and windy... so perfect  conditions for wildfires.

      About 40000 people have been ordered out of their homes and 15000 more are on standby. Some homes and property have been burned.

      The area ranges from heavy bush to open range land and then there are farming areas in the river valleys. 

      So it's challenging for firefighter and residents. There's no relief in sight at the present time.

      Now I live about  600 km from the fires. We've had westerly winds so the smoke has blown into Alberta. Air quality rates from 3 -10. Now the smoke is quite high.

      I live midway between Edmonton and Calgary.


Affected area map



     I took these photos from my yard just a few minutes before 7:00 PM. The sky is not cloudy. The dullness is caused by smoke. I was just lucky to get the sun in my photo as you couldn't see it on the viewfinder.