Forest Fires in Quebec affecting Upper Canada and East US, a bit in Michigan!

[Margaret's boy]

Nothing good ever comes from Quebec except maple syrup and beer.

[canuck]

Nothing good ever comes from Quebec except maple syrup and beer.

Yes, I’m sure you overindulge in both of these, "boy".

[mtburb]

Unlike last time, we have officially reached the "very unhealthy" threshold in air quality - if currently barely.

[jcole]

And Quebec itself was only at 29 yesterday.

Unlike last time, we have officially reached the "very unhealthy" threshold in air quality - if currently barely.

[Zacha341]

I was out at about 10 PM driving north US 10 thru to the bottom of Northwestern, Orchard Lk, etc and again at 5:30 AM for a friend working a night shift job and it was BAD! Wood and plasticky smell; street lights and lights on the freeways all had halos from the smoke!

Worse here in the WSU area, yet fogged smoke well up thru West Bloomfield area too. Seemed my car was even driving sluggish in it!

Slight halo about lights IN the house as well. NOT GOOD.

[Jimaz]

We're falling from "Hazardous" toward "Very Unhealthy." Peak was NowCast AQI 376.

[GPCharles]

I work in an upper floor of a downtown office building and I can't see Belle Isle looking to the east and can barely see Windsor looking across the river.

[K-slice]

Everyone put a fan outside and point it north.

[canuck]

Everyone put a fan outside and point it north.

…and call it a fan of Céline Dion…

[GPCharles]

Belle Isle has been sighted - not to worry, it is still there.

[Rocket]

Visibility was 1.2 miles this morning, seemed even less yesterday at 5 pm.

When is Canada going to start taking care of their forestry? For that matter, when is the US going to do the same out West?

https://worldview.earthdata.nasa.gov...T20%3A51%3A53Z

[Gistok]

Went to Nino's Italian Market this morning... about 1/3 of the employees were wearing face masks... 2020-2021 Covid... deja vu!!

My sinuses have been OK today, but my eyes feel like there's sand in them.

[401don]

Visibility was 1.2 miles this morning, seemed even less yesterday at 5 pm.

When is Canada going to start taking care of their forestry? For that matter, when is the US going to do the same out West?

https://worldview.earthdata.nasa.gov...T20%3A51%3A53Z

The fires have almost all been caused by dry, hot weather and lightning. Justin would like your suggestions.

[Jimaz]

... When is Canada going to start taking care of their forestry? For that matter, when is the US going to do the same out West?....

Yes. A rake is all it takes. ♪It's easy and simple 'cuz you know what to do.♪

Trump's claim that people in Finland rake the forest floor is getting a big response online

• hi, i'm steve

[MikeM]

Lol, yeah, why isn't Canada pruning a million square miles of trees to prevent this? It would only take 5,000 guys a century or so.

[Danny]

Lol, yeah, why isn't Canada pruning a million square miles of trees to prevent this? It would only take 5,000 guys a century or so.

Because so called Environmental Canada wants to preserve their great forests.

Parce que le soi-disant Environnement Canada veut préserver ses grandes forêts.

[Rocket]

You can either do controlled burns, or let nature do uncontrolled burns. It's each govt's choice.

The big issue in Cali, Colorado etc is that so many people have built luxury homes out in the woods that it's hard to do the burns they need to. And even when they can do them safely, the owners of those homes protest that they'll loose their pretty view from their $5 million cabins.

Not sure what the reason is in Canada.

[Bong-Man]

Lol, yeah, why isn't Canada pruning a million square miles of trees to prevent this? It would only take 5,000 guys a century or so.

Thank-you. I think some people don't understand how rural parts of upper Quebec and Canada in general really are. Natural forests have natural fires. If there isn't a logging road, there isn't a road.

[Jimaz]

Holding steady at 165 in the Unhealthy range. Yea!

[Burnsie]

Tuesday was the worse day of this smog. One could even smell the smoke. I am surprised that we weren't under a severe ozone alert

It's not ozone that's the problem, it's fine particulate matter. Alerts for that *have* been issued regularly.

[GPCharles]

Thursday morning at 8:45 a.m. Belle Isle has once again disappeared. Windsor is still there.

[canuck]

Thank-you. I think some people don't understand how rural parts of upper Quebec and Canada in general really are. Natural forests have natural fires. If there isn't a logging road, there isn't a road.

Lol, yeah. My wife hails from Abitibi region in Northern Quebec. Her sister’s husband could never live in the city. He works for the big sawmill in Matagami which is in the lower part of James Bay county. They haven’t had any close calls as far as major fires but made themselves ready just in case. There aren’t that many in and out roads around these towns to clear a population. The nearby town of Lebel-sur-Quévillon was evacuated twice in the past month or so. Temperatures were much higher than here for tha period and with no rainfall, which is unusual. They usually get a good amount of rainfall in summertime, but the danger of too many days of sunshine and dry weather spells danger. They had hundreds of fire specialists fly in from the US, Spain, Portugal and France. Many are leaving and now the South Korean crews are flying in.

The area’s economy is based in Hydro power generation in James Bay, and gold mining and forestry in Abitibi.

The territory is enormous and power transmission lines and other infrastructure are a priority. The James Bay hydro dams complex cover an area the size of New York State.

[jiminnm]

The fires have almost all been caused by dry, hot weather and lightning.

Not here in NM. Our largest fires were all caused by the US Forest Service. For some reason, they think they can do controlled burns on days when the wind is forecast is 35-40 mph with gusts up to 60.

[Rocket]

Here's a relatively easy-to-make air filter box you can make yourself, should it become necessary.

That's a great idea.

My central heat/AC system at home has a big filter like that, and I recently went to MERV11 filters. So my house air isn't noticeably bad.

MERV 11 is the minimum needed to filter out wildfire smoke. So 11, 13 etc.

Today I turned the fan to ON, instead of Auto, so it will filter more.

But at my work the air is terrible. I'm going to build one of those tonight.

And they can be made with fewer than 4 filters [which are $50 each these days at Home Depot].

Here's a pic of some using as few as 2.


And I have a couple of those same Lasko fans. They used to be $16. then $19, then $22, and now they're $26 each.

But by buying two of those 20x25" filters online for $32 each, you can be all-in for $100.

I have spare filters and a fan already, so I'd just be taking some of the life out of the filters.

Thanks for posting that.

[Jimaz]

...And they can be made with fewer than 4 filters [which are $50 each these days at Home Depot].

Here's a pic of some using as few as 2.


...
Thanks for posting that.

You're most welcome but $50 each? That seems a bit high. I always buy them by the case. Last time I got lucky with a 50% discount.

Also, in the photo some of the filters are oriented with the ribs horizontal. They recommend vertical so they hold up to gravity better.

Also, with two filters instead of four you'd want to be extra careful to get a good seal with the tape because there would be more pressure differential across the filters.