39 votes

Smoke from Canadian wildfires engulfs East Coast, upending daily life

17 comments

  1. [5]
    hamstergeddon
    Link
    It's in the 370s where I live. Everything's a little hazy, but nowhere near as bad as the bright orange I saw in photos of NYC yesterday. I can also definitely smell the smoke now, whereas...

    It's in the 370s where I live. Everything's a little hazy, but nowhere near as bad as the bright orange I saw in photos of NYC yesterday. I can also definitely smell the smoke now, whereas yesterday I barely could. If I didn't know better I'd think one of my neighbors was doing big bonfire.

    We don't have central air, so I'm hoping our little window units and their filters are good enough for now. I don't smell smoke inside the house at all and there's no haze in there at all, so I think we're doing okay? My other concern is that while I work from home, my office is a shed out back. It doesn't smell smokey in here at all, but I'm still a little paranoid. Thinking I might move into the house for work today, just to be safe. My heart goes out to those that work outside.

    Meanwhile my neighbor's kids are outside playing. And the little in-home daycare a few houses down had their kids outside playing yesterday. It's making it hard to convince my own kids that they can't go outside. But then again this town didn't take COVID seriously, so I'm not all that surprised.

    11 votes
    1. [4]
      streblo
      Link Parent
      As someone who lives in forest fire country, I sympathize. Good to hear you have AC, it gets particularly bad if you rely on opening your windows at night to cool your house. Before I moved to a...

      As someone who lives in forest fire country, I sympathize. Good to hear you have AC, it gets particularly bad if you rely on opening your windows at night to cool your house. Before I moved to a place with AC, I distinctly remember wiping ash from my countertops some mornings.

      Hopefully it clears up for you soon. If it persists at those levels, the best decision we made was an impromptu holiday road trip out of the smoke.

      6 votes
      1. [3]
        chocobean
        Link Parent
        That's part of the opening scenes to Interstellar right, people living with ash covering everything inside the home.

        That's part of the opening scenes to Interstellar right, people living with ash covering everything inside the home.

        3 votes
        1. [2]
          Bakethatham
          Link Parent
          Amazing detail in that movie, really setting the mood for how bleak the Earth had become despite the green of the crops around them.

          Amazing detail in that movie, really setting the mood for how bleak the Earth had become despite the green of the crops around them.

          2 votes
          1. chocobean
            Link Parent
            That scene of the little family at the baseball game....shivers....... that's how few human beings are left.........

            That scene of the little family at the baseball game....shivers....... that's how few human beings are left.........

            1 vote
  2. [4]
    gowestyoungman
    (edited )
    Link
    We were IN one of those Canadian wildfires two weeks ago in Alberta. It went through our acreage subdivision and VERY close to our home. The air grew thick with smoke so we were already preparing...

    We were IN one of those Canadian wildfires two weeks ago in Alberta. It went through our acreage subdivision and VERY close to our home. The air grew thick with smoke so we were already preparing ourselves to evacuate because it just felt "creepy" and ominous. I was outside when I noticed the sky turning pink from the fire and thats when we decided to get the heck outta there. Didnt even know by that time it was only about 1.5 km away. Took some pics quickly in case it was all gone when we got back. There was no official warning, with the police knocking on every door, til we were already gone for half an hour.

    We were ordered evacuated for 12 days to a hotel 20 km away. The gov paid for our rooms, three meals a day and gave us $2500 to cover any other expenses and we were very grateful for their support. They flew in firefighters from around the country to battle the blaze.

    When we came home, only one of our trees, 30 feet from our home, got burned at the base but incredibly nothing burned on our yard. It was so close that my next door neighbor, 100 ft away, lost his shed. And sadly, four of the houses in our subdivision burned. The firefighters did an incredible job saving the rest but they couldnt save them all.

    The entire experience was far more emotionally challenging than I thought and our little subdivision has gone through some collective grieving. Id say it was accurate to call it depression. We were all affected pretty deeply and seeing the burned houses, shops, vehicles is heart breaking.

    Our fire is out but there are still dozens more burning in Alberta.

    A hundred acres of trees surrounding our subdivision is now a scorched wasteland. But amazingly new life has already begun and there are some green plants that already a foot tall - after two weeks! Fires produce rich soil and while many trees are gone we are looking forward to the new life that its going to bring.

    10 votes
    1. [3]
      chocobean
      Link Parent
      A hundred acres is a very large area. Mosf people living in the cities don't know how big it is. I mean, it's not incomprehensibly big but it's a fun hike's length and if it's full of trees,...

      A hundred acres is a very large area. Mosf people living in the cities don't know how big it is. I mean, it's not incomprehensibly big but it's a fun hike's length and if it's full of trees, there's gonna be so many homeless animals and dead animals....

      I'm very sad to hear about your neighbor's loss horses ;_; in situations like this would it have been reasonable or better to release them so they have a chance to run away? Or would they be more terrified and hurt themselves?

      3 votes
      1. [2]
        gowestyoungman
        Link Parent
        Sorry it was four lost houses, not horses. Although one of my neighbors does have horses but they got them out in a trailer before the fire. There were a few who also had dogs and cats that they...

        Sorry it was four lost houses, not horses. Although one of my neighbors does have horses but they got them out in a trailer before the fire. There were a few who also had dogs and cats that they couldnt get out in time. As far as I know, no one lost pets though as the firefighters took care of them, gave them water and fed them. And a couple of people snuck back in during the evacuation to rescue pets.

        4 votes
        1. chocobean
          Link Parent
          Oh thank goodness!! Not that houses aren't sad, it is! Very much so! But horses would be even sadder.

          Oh thank goodness!! Not that houses aren't sad, it is! Very much so! But horses would be even sadder.

          3 votes
  3. Amarok
    (edited )
    Link
    I had to close all the windows yesterday, visibility was down to less than a half-mile in western new york state. It was similar to thick fog, except for the smell. I'm at 1700' above sea level,...

    I had to close all the windows yesterday, visibility was down to less than a half-mile in western new york state. It was similar to thick fog, except for the smell. I'm at 1700' above sea level, it was far worse down in the valley - couldn't even see across gas station parking lots. We've had this smoky weather five times I can remember in my life, however this was close to triple the worst I've seen previously. It was nasty this time, and we're probably not done yet. The Northeastern US is dry as fuck right now, and in the middle of a wicked cold snap. By August, it's going to be a scorching tinderbox just begging for those thunderstorms.

    The only reason wildfires don't rip up the northeast is because it's always just a bit rainy. Thunderstorms 2-5 times a week, long gaps are rare. That's the great lakes and the finger lakes and thousands of other small bodies of water doing what they do, stirring the pot and keeping the weatherman on his toes. If we get a protracted drought, all bets are off, and we'll be taking any records from california's wildfires that year.

    Edit: And of course, being western new york, the moment you predict the weather it changes so that you are wrong. Enjoying a nice, cold, slow drizzle rain right now, first in weeks. Smoke's barely noticeable now.

    7 votes
  4. unkz
    Link
    Fascinatingly bad take from Fox News on this: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/nyc-smoke-wildfire-fox-news-b2354050.html Apparently it’s crazy to protect your lungs from smoke.

    Fascinatingly bad take from Fox News on this:

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/nyc-smoke-wildfire-fox-news-b2354050.html

    “This doesn’t kill anybody, this doesn’t make anybody cough. This is not a health event, this has got nothing to do with climate,” Mr Milloy claimed.

    Apparently it’s crazy to protect your lungs from smoke.

    6 votes
  5. skybrian
    Link
    From the article: […]

    From the article:

    Smoke from hundreds of wildfires raging across Canada engulfed the eastern United States on Wednesday, upending the rhythms of daily life for tens of millions of Americans, creating a sea of “Code Red” air quality alerts as far south as the Carolinas and prompting widespread health worries.

    Nowhere was the scene more haunting than in New York City, where a thick haze blanketed the Statue of Liberty, shrouded the skyscrapers of Manhattan, delayed a baseball game at Yankee Stadium and forced a temporary halt of flights into LaGuardia Airport due to low visibility. Mayor Eric Adams recommended people wear masks outdoors and canceled outdoor city events.

    […]

    “It looks like Mars outside,” said Dennis Scannell, the co-owner of a typically bustling but now silent baseball and softball training facility in Syracuse. The city’s Air Quality Index — a measure of outdoor pollution — registered 402 late Wednesday morning. Healthy is considered below 50.

    In Binghamton, N.Y., the National Weather Service office tweeted about the dimming sky just before 10 a.m. “Sun is no longer visible, everything’s orange, the parking lot lights have come on,” it read, alongside a photo of the otherworldly scene.

    As of early Wednesday, Canadian officials reported more than 400 active fires, with roughly 240 listed as “out of control.” The worst-affected province is Quebec, where at least 154 fires have been recorded.

    At the current pace, government officials said this week, Canada is on track to experience the worst wildfire season in its recorded history. Already this year, roughly 2,300 wildfires have burned roughly 9.4 million acres, according to government data. In the Atlantic province of Nova Scotia, unusually intense blazes this year have scorched more land than in the past 10 years combined.

    3 votes
  6. [4]
    ThatMartinFellow
    Link
    I live in western PA and it's crazy the haze we get even here. We can even smell the smoke from time to time.

    I live in western PA and it's crazy the haze we get even here. We can even smell the smoke from time to time.

    3 votes
    1. Thrabalen
      Link Parent
      Philadelphia here. Yesterday, the haze was very disconcerting, and it smelled like a nearby fie. Today it's a lot better. Barely any haze, and you can't smell the smoke anymore (but you can...

      Philadelphia here. Yesterday, the haze was very disconcerting, and it smelled like a nearby fie. Today it's a lot better. Barely any haze, and you can't smell the smoke anymore (but you can definitely feel it.)

      2 votes
    2. Gordnfreeman
      Link Parent
      same here in RI, everything had a kind of yellow tinge to it a couple of days ago, last night I was out on my deck and could swear somebody was having a campfire nearby the smell was so strong....

      same here in RI, everything had a kind of yellow tinge to it a couple of days ago, last night I was out on my deck and could swear somebody was having a campfire nearby the smell was so strong. Looking at the map we are considered low to moderate, I cannot imagine what it is like in some of the higher risk areas for the air quality alert.

      2 votes
    3. seang96
      Link Parent
      I didn't notice any visual difference today on the western border between Pittsburgh and Erie. Just checked my thermostat though and it's showing a nice spike in air quality, figured itd be an...

      I didn't notice any visual difference today on the western border between Pittsburgh and Erie. Just checked my thermostat though and it's showing a nice spike in air quality, figured itd be an interesting thing to share. thermostat readings

      1 vote
  7. petrichor
    Link
    It's a bit weird seeing everyone else dealing with the smoke. The West Coast has had consistent haze for about two weeks straight in July/August for the last six years or so. I guess this is the...

    It's a bit weird seeing everyone else dealing with the smoke. The West Coast has had consistent haze for about two weeks straight in July/August for the last six years or so. I guess this is the first time the East Coast has been hit badly?

    I don't have much advice to give :-( masks are helpful

    3 votes