Jenifer Calhoun watched as ash settled on her patio furniture and in her children害羞草研究所檚 sandbox.
Calhoun and two of her three children have asthma, which is keeping them indoors.
害羞草研究所淚t害羞草研究所檚 disgusting, it is way worse than last year,害羞草研究所� she said. 害羞草研究所淥f course, all of our inhalers are used now.害羞草研究所�
The family has been avoiding the outdoors.
害羞草研究所淭here害羞草研究所檚 been days where you can actually see wisps of smoke in the backyard, like right around face level. I don害羞草研究所檛 remember seeing that last year. It was actually way up high, and it went away after a week. This is like it害羞草研究所檚 settled in and it害羞草研究所檚 not going away,害羞草研究所� Calhoun said.
害羞草研究所淟ittle Hailey, she害羞草研究所檚 been coughing, sputtering tons,害羞草研究所� she said. Hailey is four years old.
Calhoun has a cough that won害羞草研究所檛 go away, and she makes short trips to the grocery store.
A thick blanket of smoke continues to cover the Okanagan.
In terms of air quality measurements, air quality is measured by particulate matter 2.5, called PM2.5, which is the amount of tiny particles or droplets in the air, according to New York State害羞草研究所檚 Department of Health.
Kelowna currently has worse air than Jodhpur, India, a city which is considered by the World Health Organization to have some of the worst air in the world. Kelowna sits at 287 PM 2.5 as of 8:3o a.m. while Jodhpur is 183 2.5 PM. The scale ranges from 1 to 500+. Anything above 100 PM 2.5 is considered to carry a health risk.
Currently, Prince George has a reading of 402. To compare, Courtenay has no smoke on Vancouver Island and has a rating of 10. Surrey had a reading of 53.
According to Environment Canada害羞草研究所檚 , all of the Okanagan Valley is sitting at 10+ out of 10, which is considered a very high risk.
Related: B.C. city wakes up to darkness under wildfire smoke
Related: Temporary smoke relief in sight for Kelowna
The national forecaster recommends avoiding strenuous outdoor activities, and children and the elderly should avoid outside physical exertion.
As of Saturday morning, Kelowna and Vernon害羞草研究所檚 air quality was considered hazardous, while Coldstream害羞草研究所檚 was considered unhealthy, according to a real-time
Sunday害羞草研究所檚 predictions for the Okanagan is expected to reach a level of eight.
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