Environment Canada has issued a special air quality statement for Metro Vancouver, showing a very high risk to health due to wildfire smoke from Washington and Oregon. It said people with heart and lung conditions are most affected by air pollution and the very high risk is expected to continue through at least Sunday in Metro Vancouver and elsewhere in British Columbia. However, smoke concentrations may vary widely across the Metro Vancouver area and the Fraser Valley Regional District as winds, temperatures and wildfire behaviour change, it said. The air quality health index ranks risk from low to high on a scale of one to 10, but the current risk goes beyond that level and is listed as 10-plus. Castellan said the wildfires meant Vancouver's air quality ranked as among the worst of the world's major cities on Saturday, along with that in Portland, Ore., and San Francisco.

Source: CBC News September 12, 2020 21:00 UTC