Smoke impacts AB events

Cranbrook residents prepared for the worst

The first day of a cycling fundraiser in Alberta has been cancelled due to poor air quality from wildfire smoke, but a CFL game was still went ahead Saturday as officials anticipated hazy skies to clear though the day.

A cycling fundraiser in Alberta has been cancelled due to poor air quality from wildfire smoke, but a CFL game was still expected go ahead Saturday as officials anticipated hazy skies to clear though the day.

The Ride to Conquer Cancer posted on its website Saturday that all participants should stop riding on the first day of the two-day, 200kilometre ride, and organizers later posted that Sunday's portion of the ride was cancelled, too.

It said buses would sweep the route and transport riders back to Calgary, where the Air Quality Health Index on Saturday was at 9, which is considered high-risk.

At that level, Environment Canada's website advises members of the general public to consider reducing or rescheduling strenuous outdoor activities if they experience symptoms such as coughing or throat irritation.

Edmonton started the day at an air quality level of 10-plus, but was down to 4 by the afternoon.

The Edmonton Eskimos and the CFL said in a news release that the team's evening game against the Montreal Alouettes would go ahead as scheduled.

Air quality advisories remain in place in B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba from the smoke from hundreds of wildfires burning in B.C.

The website for the Edmonton Marathon, which is scheduled for today, said the event is still scheduled to go ahead.

Smoke from wildfires across B.C. has prompted air quality advisories for much of Western Canada.

Verne Thom of nearby Fort Saint James, B.C., said he saw blue skies on Saturday morning during his two-hour drive to Prince George — a stark contrast to the blanketing black smoke that filled the air on Friday.

Speaking from the side of the highway, Thom said it looked like twilight early Friday morning.

Meanwhile, many residents of Kimberley, B.C., have been on an evacuation alert since Thursday as smoke continues to descend on the East Kootenay region.

Sanford Brown with the Emergency Operations Centre in Cranbrook, about thirty minutes south of Kimberley, said he’s seen the community act quickly to prepare themselves for the worst.

Brown said residents in any area under evacuation alerts or orders need to take it upon themselves to be prepared, making sure they’re getting correct information from trusted sources and are ready to leave immediately.

“Don’t let your guard down, don’t think it couldn’t change, and the more you’re prepared, the less anxious you’ll be,” he said.

“We’ve had 87 people register into the reception centre, and we’ve had a really good response form the community supporting those people with offers of help and resources,” Brown said over the phone from Cranbrook.

Brown said while the wind activity that had fed the fires outside the city had calmed, the smoke was still heavy in that corner of the province.

“It seems like there’s fires all around us, so if it’s not our fires smoking us out, its somebody else’s,” he said.