Ontario wildfire smoke impacting Manitoba

Out-of-control wildfires in northern Ontario are having widespread impacts, including in Manitoba.

Out-of-control wildfires in northern Ontario are having widespread impacts, including in Manitoba. Nick Kozub says he lives with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a respiratory illness. “It makes me cough and if I get winded then it’s harder because I’m gasping for air,” Kozub said.

The smoke that covered Manitoba overnight didn’t do him any favours. “I don’t go out or if I have to go out, I take my vehicle,” Kozub said. Nearly 200 wildfires are burning in northern Ontario.

Smoke from the fires rolled into Manitoba Thursday afternoon from a low-pressure system, covering the province in a haze. “I thought it was fog,” said one woman CTV News talked to in Winnipeg. “The sky is a bit blurry ...

it’s so hard to breathe,” said another woman. Environment and Climate Change Canada issued an air quality warning. From late Thursday afternoon into Friday morning, the air quality health index reached 10+, the highest level, considered very high risk.

“So that means it has more impact on our health, especially those who are younger, or older, or have any type of respiratory conditions,” said Robyn Dyck, a meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada. Chris Pascoe, an associate professor of physiology at the University of Manitoba, says the effects can include difficulty breathing, coughing, wheezing, irritated eyes and headaches. “These are symptoms that you can experience both following kind of an immediate high level exposure or even in the hours that come after an exposure,” Pascoe said.

Pascoe says that while the long-term effects of chronic wildfire smoke exposure are somewhat unknown, health impacts are likely. “If you have asthma, if you have COPD, the conditions can worsen your conditions, make it more likely that you have to go to the hospital, requiring medication,” Pascoe said. To avoid those impacts, Kozub pays close attention to air quality warnings.

“I don’t want to be out when it’s really bad,” Kozub said.