Looking out the window Saturday morning, I was surprised by something…no it wasn’t wildlife but I could see trees and mountains. Yes, something we see everyday, or it was up until the smoke from all the wildfires burning across the province blew into Smithers.
It had been nearly a week since the mountains were clear to see again and the smell of smoke dissipated. For me, the biggest thing is my eyes stopped feeling so heavy and my chest didn’t feel the force of the dirty air. I’ll come back to that thought later on.
The stale air, the smoky haze and that smell brought home the trueness of what other communities must be facing in the Interior. While we are no where near the areas affected by those fires and don’t fear that our lives could forever be changed by those events, it signified that the province as a whole is feeling the effects in some way.
Aug. 6, day one of smoky Smithers. When I awoke to the stench of smoke, the smell that you’d almost think was burning in your backyard. As a news reporter, I thought for a moment it may be a fire at the railyard. As I quickly get up off the couch, look out the window and tune into the emergency services scanner…I hear nothing. Nothing from the scanner and nothing outside, but I can see the smoke. I go outside, take a drive and soon realize the smoke is all around. It’s not a single source. My next thought is it must be the lingering smoke from the wildfires from other parts of the province. It wasn’t until later that day I was able to confirm that.
Jumping ahead the next day or two. I believe possibly Monday, firefighters from Telkwa were dispatched to reported smoke in the area. After they did their search, they concluded it was from the wildfires, there was no fire in Telkwa or anywhere remotely near – it’s incredible how smoke can travel and feel so close yet s very far away.
Now going back to this past Saturday, my breathing started to improve almost immediately, I was no longer feeling like I had been at a week-long campfire. As a kid, I was diagnosed with asthma and eventually grew out of it. I didn’t have any problem with campfires or even structure fires – I’ve covered countless numbers of those over the years as a reporter and never felt the smoke in such a way as this smoke in Smithers.
Saturday night, the winds picked up, the windiest it’s been in a long time and then came a sprinkler of rain. Not enough to saturate the ground, but it was that combination of wind and rain to remove that stale air and remaining smoke from the area.
While the smoke has left Smithers and gone elsewhere, my thoughts remain with all those effected by the wildfires in this vast and forestry province.