Wildfire smoke from Canada forces air quality health warnings in Colorado

Air quality health warnings are in effect for several Colorado counties as smoke from the Canadian wildfires continues to move across the Rocky Mountain and Great Plains regions.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) said the advisory will impact the following counties through 9 a.m. Friday:

• Logan County
• Sedgwick County
• Phillips County
• Morgan County
• Washington County
• Yuma County
• Lincoln County
• Kit Carson County
• Cheyenne County
• People with heart and respiratory disease may want to stay indoors if there is thick smoke in their neighborhood. The same applies to very young or older people, the CDPHE said.

The smoke comes from wildfires in Canada. Winds will carry the smoke south into northeastern and east-central Colorado.

As of midday Thursday, there were more than 1,000 active fires burning in Canada, according to the ministry Canadian Inter-Agency Wildfire Centre. Of these, 651 are considered “out of control”. Most are in British Columbia, the Northwest Territories and the Yukon.

Click here to view the AirNow.gov map.

On Thursday there was smoke again from Canadian forest fires in Colorado

Additionally, eastern Archuleta County, southern Mineral County and Hinsdale County are under an air quality health advisory as the Quartz Ridge and Bear Creek fires burn in the San Juan Mountains more than 15 miles outside of Pagosa Springs.

That smoke should decrease Thursday morning, but moderate to heavy smoke will begin to accumulate along Weminuche Creek in southern Hinsdale County west of the Williams Creek campground by evening, the CDPHE said. The quartz fire in eastern Archuleta County may generate heavy smoke overnight along East Fork Road west to Highway 160 north of Pagosa Springs.

Click here to learn more about the effects of wildfire smoke on your health.