Pictures From The Unhealthy Air Quality In Beacon From The Canadian Wildfires Fires

A completely smokey view from Mount Beacon. Normally, one would see blue sky and the City of Beacon down below.
Photo Credit: David Martin

Related Link: The Reason Behind The Blood Orange Sun and Air Quality Alert in Beacon

The fires still rage in Canada, which means that the smoke is still in Beacon. For a second day, the Beacon City School District canceled evening events and activities. Children are being encouraged in school to stay indoors. In one elementary school, air ventilation vents went on, which ended up blowing smoke inside from the outside. According to one child, the suggestion was to open the window. And then they all remembered that opening the window would cause the same problem.

Flashbacks of the COVID shutdown are starting, as events are canceling. In New York City, where the orange sky and smoke smothered the city, making it unrecognizable, Broadway and Off Broadway shows canceled, including “Hamilton,” “Camelot” and Shakespeare in the Park. The Writers Strike that is keeping late night shows on repeat as writers fight for more streaming money from big distributors like Netflix canceled their scheduled pickets of film productions, both according to Deadline.

Meanwhile in Beacon, residents could smell the smoke on Wednesday, where the light remained stubbornly orange. Residents in California were probably thinking: “Yes, this is what it looks like. Now you know how we feel.”

The Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, the educational platform and advocacy icon founded by legendary folk singer Pete Seeger and his wife Toshi Seeger was in New York City on Wednesday, where the Air Quality Index (AQI) was 342. In Toronto Canada, it was 160. Sloop Clearwater documented this view and experience on Wednesday, and shared with A Little Beacon Blog. Photo Credits attributed to the Clearwater crew: Chloe Smith on the photo of the boat’s mast, and Guevara-Prip on the picture of the boat in full. The other two photos are screenshots of an AQI measurement tool and EarthCam.

“Clearwater and her crew are currently in New York City, where the air quality has plunged today to the worst of major cities worldwide. Climate change IS the defining issue of our time and due to hundreds of uncontrolled wildfires across Canada, more than 800miles away, we’re all at risk. Our education programs were cancelled today from NYC all the way up to Beacon, restricting access to the river and waterfront parks for our most vulnerable students. It’s time for our leaders to take action on the leading causes of climate change. Thank you @nycparks and @hudsonsailing for helping our crew shelter in place during this dangerous time. Gift goggles, KN95 masks, gloves and other protective gear to the crew from the Captains wishlist at the link in our bio. Stay safe Hudson Valley!”

Chris Sanders provided this side-by-side comparison of the Hudson River at different times:

Comparative view of the Hudson River during the smoke.
Photo Credit: Chris Sanders

Buffey Maria also shared a comparative view:

Now What?

THursday morning started off worse than Wednesday morning same time. The afternoon continues to be 167 AQI, an “Unhealthy” designation.

The fires are still burning. President Biden sent 600 American firefighters to Canada to help. The Mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, called for all to wake up to the need for climate protection in his news briefing to discuss the unhealthy air quality coming from Canada: “Climate change has accelerated these conditions and we must continue to draw down emissions, improve air quality, and build resiliency.”

Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also blamed the fires on the climate. However, reports from Canada are indicating that Canada did not have an effective strategy for creating controlled burns of forest which is done to clear flammable tinder like young trees, dry shrubs and grass in a controlled setting. According to the Daily Mail UK: “Parks Canada had only scheduled 23 controlled burns this year. By comparison, there were 150,000 in America in 2019.”

Also reported by the Daily Mail UK: “In 2016, Mark Heathcott, who ran the Parks Canada burns division for 23 years, said Canada was 'way behind American counterparts' when it came to controlled fires. 'A lot of lip service is paid to it but very few agencies do it. People don’t understand the benefit of fire,' he said.”

The Reason Behind The Blood Orange Sun and Air Quality Alert In Beacon

Related Link: Pictures From The Unhealthy Air Quality In Beacon From The Canadian Wildfires

While we just experienced the Strawberry Moon with last week’s full moon, this orange sun in Beacon, the Hudson Valley and New York City is a result of the wildfires burning in an “out of control” state in the Canadian province of Québec, according to many news reports including NPR. Other neighboring states are also effected, including Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont, as well as southern states including North Carolina.

Locally, the Beacon City School District canceled any outdoor activities for Tuesday, including daytime recess for children. Field Days, the anticipated water sport and Bouncy House days scheduled for the end of the year each year, are being rescheduled, according to correspondence from Superintendent, Dr. Landahl. Some sports leagues, including Travel Soccer, who play on school property, made the voluntary decision to cancel practices.

According to NPR, the Canadian wildfire season has been particularly bad. In the report, according to Minister of Emergency Preparedness Bill Blair, 2,214 wildfires have burned across Canada this year alone, charring 8 million acres. The country is currently battling 413 wildfires, 249 of which are categorized as out of control, and an estimated 26,000 people remain evacuated from their homes.

Across Québec, more than 150 fires are raging, many of which are burning out of control, according to the province's forest protection service. Patch reports that 110 of them are out of control. Québec City is 450 miles from Beacon.

Why The Air Quality Alert?

While some say that it looks like dusk or apocalyptic all day, with the sunlight tainting orange through the hazy clouds, there are physical reasons for the quality of the air being compromised from the Canadian smoke.

According to Patch: “Air quality alerts are triggered by a number of factors, including the detection of fine-particle pollution — known as “PM 2.5” — which can irritate the lungs.” The media outlet quoted Dr. David Hill, a pulmonologist in Waterbury, Connecticut, and a member of the American Lung Association's National Board of Directors: “We have defenses in our upper airway to trap larger particles and prevent them from getting down into the lungs. These are sort of the right size to get past those defenses,” he said. “When those particles get down into the respiratory space, they cause the body to have an inflammatory reaction to them.”

The smell of smoke has been more noticeable in Beacon on Wednesday than prior days, and the wind is blowing. As reported by Patch, “the atmospheric conditions in the upper Midwest creating dry, warm weather made it possible for small particulates to travel hundreds of miles from the Canadian wildfires and linger for days,” according to Trent Ford, the state climatologist in Illinois.

“It’s a good example of how complex the climate system is but also how connected it is,” Trent said.

Safety Recommendations During This Wildfire-Based Air Quality Alert

• Wear a mask if you are doing yard-work. Consider not sweeping the driveway.

• Skip the leaf blowing and weed whacking part of lawn-care, as the particles will add to the other particles from the fires.

• Wear an N95 mask if you’re more comfortable.

• Ask your doctor if now is a good time to take your inhaler, and renew your prescription.

• Watch for signs to nebulize your children, if they are having mystery coughs. Ask your pediatrician if nebulizing them is a good idea for any possible asthma cough.

• Stay inside in air conditioning that is recirculating if possible.

• Now is a good time to re-consider getting an HVAC system if you haven’t yet.

• Live in a pro-active way to protect and respect the environment to reduce the reasons we are having extreme swings in heat. Start composting!

• Encourage other countries to send personnel and technology to put out the fires.

• Pray for rain in Canada.