New York City and large parts of the tri-state area were placed under air quality alerts on Tuesday as wildfires continued to explode across Canada.
More than 160 forest fires have broken out in the province of Quebec with at least 114 raging out of control as officials warned that it’s shaping up to be Canada’s worst fire season ever.
There are more than 400 wildfires across the country as leaders appealed for international help to bolster local fire crews. An additional 200 firefighters are coming from France and the US, and Quebec is also in talks with Costa Rica, Portugal and Chile as it searches for additional resources.
Fires have forced about 10,000 people from their homes in Quebec, with most of those in the northwestern Abitibi region and the eastern Côte-Nord region.
No one has died in the Quebec fires, but crews were forced to pull back from the hamlet of Clova around 200 miles northwest of Montreal.
“Unfortunately, we lost control,” Quebec Premier François Legault told The Associated Press. “We are going to be obliged to let Clova burn.” Authorities said the community’s 36 residents have been evacuated.
Wet weather in the Atlantic Coast province of Nova Scotia has allowed that province to free up water bombers to dispatch to Quebec, where wildfires flared up this past weekend.
Smoke from wildfires in Ontario and Quebec is shown over Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Tuesday
(AP)
Heavy smoke from Quebec’s wildfires began moving over eastern New York and western New England on Monday evening.
New York City was experiencing hazy skies and the sun blotted to a deep orange by the smoky conditions on Tuesday.
The Air Quality Index was at 140 on Tuesday morning meaning that it is unhealthy for sensitive groups. The alert was put in place until midnight by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
Air quality advisories were in effect for the New York City metro area, along with Long Island, the Lower Hudson Valley, Upper Hudson Valley, Adirondacks, Eastern Lake Ontario, and Central Regions.
Officials recommended that individuals limit strenuous outdoor activity to reduce health risks and that extra precautions are taken when it comes to young children and those with preexisting respiratory conditions such as asthma or heart disease.
With reporting from The Associated Press
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