By Ryan Rumbolt

23 August 2018

(Calgary Herald) – Just days after smashing the previous record for the number of smoky days in Calgary, Environment Canada issued another severe air quality warning for the city and many communities in southern Alberta.Skies briefly cleared in the city before another advisory was issued on Wednesday. As of 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Environment Canada rated Calgary’s air quality at 9, which is considered high risk. That’s expected to jump to 10+ this evening, meaning some people with heart and lung problems will be at risk and should stay indoors.According to the air-quality monitoring smartphone application Sh**t! I Smoke, breathing the air in Calgary today will be roughly the equivalent of smoking about seven and a half cigarettes.Environment Canada meteorologist Dave Carlsen says Calgary will be “back in the soup” until at least Friday as smoke from more than 550 raging wildfires in B.C. will reduce visibility and leave a lingering campfire smell across the city.“That’s going to continue like that and it’s just going to get worse for the next 24 hours,” Carlsen said. “The smoke plumes coming out of B.C. are really large, really dense smoke.” […]Carlsen, who is from B.C., says he has been tracking wildfires for years and is shocked by the level of smoke.“This has been the smokiest summer in Calgary’s history … so that would speak to the fact that there’s been a lot more (fires) this year than have been observed since observation began.” [more]