An air quality warning issued for parts of the Fraser Valley due to wildfire smoke was called off on Sunday afternoon. A yellow warning was issued for Chilliwack, Agassiz, and Hope on Wednesday, but the Metro Vancouver Regional District upgraded it to orange on Saturday, which signifies a “very high health risk,” according to local officials. Officials ended the air quality warning on Sunday, just after 12 p.m. “Air quality has improved due to winds from the coast helping move smoke eastward and out of the region,” the regional district said, in a statement. Smoke from B.C. wildfires was cited as a cause for the poor air quality, the government specifically mentioning pollutants coming from the South Cariboo region and the Brunswick fire complex near Boston Bar. “Conditions may last until there is a significant change in weather,” the Metro Vancouver Regional District stated, in the warning issued Saturday. “Smoke levels can change quickly with weather and fire behaviour.” Wildfires continue to burn across the province, with 129 active and 17 having sparked in the last 24 hours, according to the B.C. Wildfire Service. In an update posted Saturday, the BCWS said lingering smoke will persist in the south half of the province, but it “may help moderate fire behaviour by reducing the amount of radiant heat reaching the landscape.”
