Ash/smoke in valley being funneled up from U.S.
By Kyra Hoggan
The rain of falling ash and haze of smoke on the region right now is not caused by local fires, but rather by blazes south of the border, according to Southeast Fire Centre fire information officer Karlie Shaughnessy.
“There is a very small fire in the Big Sheep Creek area west of Rossland – it’s just 3.3 hectares and very remote,” Shaughnessy said. “There’s also a small one east of Salmo in the Hidden Creek area – we’ll be conducting a burn-off operation on that today to keep it isolated, so Salmo residents might see a bit more smoke today.”
She said what’s creating the smoke/ash issue is actually a duo of fires in Washington, almost directly south of us. There’s a 535-acre wildfire called Baldy, southeast of Northport. There’s also a 300-acre wildfire in Washington called Stickpin that sending up large columns of smoke today.
“The wind is coming from the south and blowing smoke directly into our valleys,” Shaughnessy said. “People can expect to continue to see this until the weather pattern changes.”
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