Air Quality Index at 6 – August 15, 2018
West Shore Voice News
That’s listed as ‘moderate risk’ (at the top of the 4 to 6 range), though yesterday health officials were calling the smoke levels ‘high risk’. The forecast shows the Air Quality Health Index could reach 7 (7 to 10 is officially High Risk) in the next 18 hours.
Seniors, young children, and anyone with lung, heart or chronic health disorders can find breathing to be more difficult when the air quality is poor. Reducing strenuous activities outdoors is applicable to everyone under these conditions.
The smoky skies are a result of wildfires burning in north-central BC and on Vancouver Island. A ridge of high pressure is preventing the dispersal of the smoke from the south-island region.
The smoke may contain some degree of chemicals from the fire retardants used to battle the wildfires.
According to the BC Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development, fire retardants, foam and water can all be used to slow down a fire’s growth. They support the efforts of ground crews in containing the fire. Water-soluble fire retardants are commonly used in fire suppression because of their long-lasting effect on fires. They contain ammonium salts which affect the burning process of forest fuels. The fire retardant liquid concentrate is mixed with water at a ratio of 5.5 parts water to one part concentrate to form the working solution. Retardant has a much longer-lasting effect than water in fire suppression because it does not evaporate. On average, about 9.4 million litres of fire retardant is used each fire season in BC.
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