Smoke over Kelowna Sunday morning. Smoke continues to hang over much of BC’s southern interior, including the Okanagan and Thompson regions. The smoky skies advisory issued Saturday remains in effect Sunday, covering all of southeastern B.C. “Continued smoke impacts from wildfires burning locally as well as in Washington and Idaho,” the bulletin said. “High concentrations will be intermittent in some areas, with the strongest impacts expected in the southern interior near the US border.” Environment Canada has also issued a special air quality statement for the region. “Smoke may clear in some areas this afternoon as the upper low moves into the southern interior, however conditions are expected to persist over most areas overnight,” says Environment Canada. After an extremely smoky fire season last year, July and August have been relatively smoke-free this year. Fire activity across the province has dropped dramatically this year following a cooler, wetter spring. However, BCWS fire information officer Shaelee Stearns says a number of distant fires are contributing to the recent smoke. “I think it’s still coming from some of the US fires just south of the border, as well as some displacement from the coastal area [Fire Centre]Stearns said. “Other than that, it’s probably just one of a handful of fires burning across the Kamloops Fire Station.” The most recent major fire in the area is the Blue Mountain fire, which burned an area of 54 hectares just west of Penticton.
