Agassiz-Harrison woke up to smoky skies on Thursday morning as firefighters wrestle with several wildfires north of Harrison Hot Springs.
According to Weather Canada, the Eastern Fraser Valley has an Air Quality Health Index factor of 9 (high risk) with a forecasted maximum of 5 (moderate risk). It’s recommended to reduce or reschedule strenuous outdoor activities, and children, the elderly and the immunocompromised in particular should take it as easy as they can.
Forecasted maximums are expected to drop ton between 5 and 8 by Thursday evening and down to about 3 or 4 on Friday.
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Local Wildfire Recap
According to the latest from B.C. Wildfire Service, the Long Island fire has burned 256 hectares on the north side of the island. It’s classified as out of control and the entire island remains under an evacuation order, which was issued on Aug. 5.
As of Thursday, the Fraser Valley Regional District (FVRD) Emergency Operations Centre has renewed a state of local emergency for Electoral Area C, which covers Long Island.
The Clear Creek wildfire is the largest local wildfire at 700 hectares and is currently out of control; a much smaller wildfire south of Clear Creek is also out of control, calculated at only 0.01 hectares as of Thursday.
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Clear Creek No. 2 (minimal size) and Clear Creek East (minimal size) are both being held. Hornet Creek No. 1 is under control, holding at 0.9 hectares, and Big Silver Creek wildfire is also under control, holding at 3 hectares.
There have been at least 20 wildfires that have burned in the Agassiz-Harrison area. There are 266 active wildfires in B.C. as of Thursday morning and a total of 1,477 that burned throughout the year.
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