Montreal and Toronto are among the most polluted cities

On Friday morning, Montreal and Toronto were in the top three cities with the most air pollution in the world, according to the IQAir website. However, the intensity of wildfires in Quebec has decreased over the past few days, indicating public safety.

New York City in the United States tops the list of cities with the most air pollution, followed by the Queen City and Montreal.

In the afternoon, air quality improved in Toronto and Montreal, taking them to third and fourth place respectively.

In Montreal, all facilities in parks, including swimming pools and playgrounds, are closed on Friday.

Laval Mayor Stephen Boyer announced Friday morning the closure of outdoor sports facilities in the municipality.

“Outdoor swimming pools, paddling pools, sports facilities, beach and unsupervised water sports are closed today. Activities in parks are canceled,” he wrote in a message on Twitter.

Environment Canada has issued a smog warning for several areas of Quebec, including ABTP-Demiscamingue, Gatineau, Lanadier, Laurentians, the Greater Montreal area and Mont-Laurier.

“High concentrations of fine particles from wildfires lead to poor air quality. However, they will be less significant than during last Sunday’s smog episode. These conditions may persist for the next few days,” the federal agency said in its warning Friday morning.

“It will remain at least till tomorrow in the already affected areas [samedi]. It may even extend till Sunday morning,” he said in an interview Canadian Press Simon Legault, a meteorologist at Environment Canada.

He also pointed out that the particle plume is “slowly drifting northward.” Thus, departments in the Estrie, Québec region and Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean may suffer from poor air quality. However, since these areas are on the edge of the bloom, Mr. Legault explained.

Smog especially affects children with asthma and people with respiratory or heart disease, according to Environment Canada. Therefore, the organization recommends not engaging in outdoor physical activity until the smog warning is lifted.

“Everyone can improve air quality by taking simple actions like using public transport, reducing vehicle speed or avoiding unnecessary engine running,” the central government said.

Smoke exposure can cause symptoms such as itchy or watery eyes, runny nose, sore throat, mild cough, headache or sinus irritation, according to Montreal Public Health on its website.

A person experiencing shortness of breath, wheezing, severe coughing, chest pain, palpitations or dizziness should contact a medical professional, the organization says.

Less severe forest fires

The intensity of forest fires in Quebec has decreased in many areas over the past few days due to favorable weather conditions, the Ministry of Public Security said in an update on its website Friday morning.

However, as of Friday morning, 100 fires were active in the province, including a 68 severity zone. So the fight against the fire will continue for “several weeks,” the ministry said.

A preventive evacuation notice is still in effect in the Millage 20 sector in Sennetor, Abidpi-Temiscamingue.

In Val-d’Or, in the same region, residents of the Lac Matchi-Manitou and Lac Guéguen sectors will be able to return to their homes on Friday from 4 p.m.

In Nord-du-Québec, in Lebel-sur-Quévillon, residents of the municipality are scheduled to return Saturday, indicating public safety.

The mayor of Lebel-sur-Quévillon, Guy Lafrenière, said in a video posted on Facebook on Friday that the fires north of the municipality had not yet progressed and that the Society for the Protection of Forests Against Fire (SOPFEU) hoped to contain them. Soon.

The area of ​​the fire threatening Lebel-sur-Quévillon is “almost 24 times larger than the city of Montreal,” the municipality said on its website. According to him, the fire is 107 km wide and 97 km long.

“The new American teams are arriving this afternoon [vendredi] To make an employee change. Additionally, teams from South Korea are arriving as reinforcements next week. More than 275 people have been roped in to douse the fire,” said the mayor.

The Quebec government announced Thursday morning two relaxations to measures taken several days earlier because of the forest fire’s importance and high flammability codes.

First, the ban on forest access on forest roads and lands in the domain of the state, which was announced on June 18 in the territory of Quebec, was lifted. Bans on open fires in or near forests have been announced to be partially lifted.

All these relaxations came into effect from 8:00 am on Thursday.

Bans are in effect in some sections of Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Nord-du-Québec region, Jamesie, Outauais, Haute-Mauricie, Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean and North Coast.

Toronto-headquartered mining company Probe Gold announced Friday morning that it will resume drilling in the province starting next week. Since early June, Quebec has banned access to forests and closed forest roads due to fires.

Watch the video