ESCANABA – Wildfires in Canada are impacting the local air quality.

As of 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, there are 202 active fires across Canada, with 102 currently out of control, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC).

The majority of active fires are taking place in the Canadian Provinces of British Columbia (67) and Alberta (53).

The smoke from the fires made its way into the United States earlier this week.

“It was actually able to seep down into the Dakotas. We’ve got the system coming through that’s bringing us these southwesterly winds, so that was able to scoop up some of that smoke, and that’s what’s dragging it into the area today (Monday),” said National Weather Service (NWS) Meteorologist Lily Chapman.

On Tuesday, the air quality continued to decrease.

“The amount of particles of smoke is increasing, so the air quality itself is dropping off,” said NWS Meteorologist Daniel Jablonski.

Officials were hopeful on Tuesday that the forecasted rain and cold front would help the air quality.

“The rain and the kind of cooler air coming in behind this cold front should help, at least, kind of mix things out, and the rain will help, kind of clean out that air. But it’ll depend on how the thunderstorms and whatnot progress today (Tuesday). There still could be some stuff lingering, but this should help improve conditions for Wednesday,” Jablonski said.

“Today and tonight (Tuesday) should be the worst of it.”

Because of the smoke, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE)

issued an air quality advisory warning for the U.P. throughout the week, including Wednesday.

According to MiAir’s forecast summary for Wednesday,”Smoke from Canadian wildfires continues to threaten the upper Midwest. For the most part, the worst of the smoke has remained elevated over Michigan skies. However, monitors in the western U.P. are showing a large increase surface concentrations, during Tuesday morning, as smoke mixes down, sending PM-2.5 concentrations into the unhealthy and higher range. As such we are upgrading Tuesday’s forecast to Alert status and will maintain that level through Wednesday. The models are also showing surface smoke invading the northwest counties of the Lower Peninsula during Wednesday, so we will increase the alert area to cover those counties for Wednesday. We will reassess the situation for Thursday with the Wednesday forecast.”

The general public may not notice a difference in regard to the air quality, but those with certain conditions or certain groups are impacted.

Due to the pollutants in the air, areas around the U.P. could reach the Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups (USG) Air Quality Index (AQI) range.

USG includes people with asthma, heart disease, and lung disease. Other groups include pregnant women, children, and the elderly.

The NWS and EGLE recommends that those sensitive to air quality take preventive measures to stay healthy.

Officials recommended keeping windows closed to prevent smoke from entering a residence, and those with window AC units can run the fan to help filter the air.

When air quality is poor, sensitive groups should try to stay indoors as much as possible and avoid strenuous activities.

According to AirNow, “People with lung disease such as asthma, children and teens, older adults, and people who are routinely active outdoors for six or more hours a day: reduce your exposure by choosing less strenuous activities or shortening the amount of time you are active outdoors.”

To view your local air quality, visit https://www.airnow.gov.

The NWS provides updates on its Facebook page at US National Weather Service Marquette, Michigan. Information can also be found on the national website at weather.gov.