CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) – Canada’s wildfire season is just getting underway, with hundreds of fires burning out of control across remote areas of the country as we speak.
Air quality remains at unhealthy levels for the general population here in Chicopee and across the rest of the Pioneer Valley as Canada endures a record-setting fire season that is ongoing, worsened by a weather pattern off the coast of Nova Scotia that is dragging that smoke south and east into our area.
Data from the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center indicates that there are 437 active fires across the country right now, but our smoke is coming mostly from fires burning in the Province of Ontario.
These fires are already bad enough that they have broken the annual average of acres burned during wildfire season in Canada and the season has just begun. Most of these fires started naturally via lightning strikes combined with warm temperatures and dry weather in Canada making this a serious issue.
There may be some improvement in our area over the next few days as that weather pattern off the coast of Nova Scotia changes and pushes that smoke to other parts of the northeast and even the midwest. But total relief is unlikely, those fires aren’t going anywhere in Canada and fire season there runs through October.
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Duncan MacLean is a reporter who has been a part of the 22News team since 2019. Follow Duncan on X @DMacLeanWWLP and view his bio to see more of his work.