Okanagan AQHI Peaks at 10+ as 17,000-ha Fraser Canyon Fires Drive Smoke
A rare orange-coded air quality warning in B.C.'s Okanagan — with the Air Quality Health Index peaking at 10+, the maximum — ended July 25 after nearly a week of wildfire smoke. The event, driven by three Fraser Canyon fires spanning 6,000 to 17,000 hectares, shows how climate-driven fire seasons are rewriting air quality norms in interior communities. It carries direct lessons for alert systems, public-health adaptation and energy-sector resilience.
Source: vernonmorningstar.com · kelownacapnews.com