MONTREAL, Quebec: The Canada Day fireworks show scheduled for Saturday night in Montreal has been canceled due to air-quality concerns caused by wildfires blazing in northern Quebec.
The wildfires have engulfed most of the United States and parts of Canada in a hazy haze.
Tandem Communication’s Stephane Guertin, who represents the organizer of the Canada Day event, said Thursday that public health officials could only predict whether the smog alerts would last on Saturday. However, he stated that the organizer did not want to add another contaminant to the air.
More than 1,000 people have returned to their homes in Scottsdale, a Phoenix suburb after firefighters declared a brush fire 30% contained.
According to Canadian experts, recent heavy rain in Quebec missed the areas where flames are most active, and they expect air quality to be a concern throughout the summer as long as the fires continue.
Smoky air from Canada’s wildfires has engulfed large sections of the United States, from Minnesota to New York and Kentucky.
Officials in Canada believe the rain will not be enough to put out the wildfires raging in northern Quebec, but the rain will allow firefighters a chance to move ahead of the flames, as the country surpassed the record for area burned by wildfires this week.
Canada Day commemorates the anniversary of Canada’s confederation.
The Canada Day fireworks show scheduled for Saturday night in Montreal has been canceled due to air-quality concerns caused by wildfires blazing.
The announcement comes just one day after amusement park La Ronde said that pyrotechnics scheduled for Thursday would be canceled due to air-quality concerns.
According to Dr. David Kaiser, deputy medical director of Montreal’s public health department, fireworks displays can cause significant air pollutants in surrounding locations.
Due to fine particulate matter from forest fires, Environment Canada has issued a smog warning for the Montreal and Laval districts.
490 fires are blazing around the country, with 255 classified out of control. The Quebec Forest Fire Prevention Service reports 110 active fires.
Canada has already surpassed the previous record for total area burned. Fires are raging in nearly every province in Canada. According to the Canadian government, a record 30,000 square miles (80,000 square kilometers) of Canada has burned, an area nearly the size of South Carolina.
SOURCE – (AP)
