I had not seen anything around here in the Twin Cities when I sat down for our Wed. game session. I had been for a walk earlier in the day.

When I got done and turned to get up, though... it was so dense outside that I could not see the end of the block. It literally rolled in while I was sitting at the computer.

Wild.

Mask up if you go outside.

I lived in the western, usually burning down somewhere, states for the last few decades and I can assure you that the mask thing is worth it. Glad you have purifiers for your place.

I work in a supermarket, so the smell is slowly making its way in because of the doors opening so much. The manager is walking around offering us masks.

The exhaust fan thinking it would end up drawing in outside air

except that, if I burn something on the stove, or cook something with a strong odor, the exhaust hood over the stove gets rid of some of the smoke and odor.

Does it do that by drawing in outside air? I thought it worked by sucking up inside air to get rid of it. But, of course, the inside air has to go somewhere if sucked up. I am in an apt. building with several floors. Does it go into air ducts above the ceiling?

I only turned on the exhausts a short time ago as an afterthought. Have not noticed an increase in smoke or odor, but maybe that's because they have not been on long.

Maybe I should turn them off before they make it worse.

And vent right back into the kitchen, never really understood that one lol

Bathroom fan probably vents outside, drawing in outside air.

If anyone is interested: airnow.gov

Just type in your zip code and you can see the air quality in your area.

It sounds pretty bad up north. Take care of yourself

Firesmoke.ca

When did wildfire smoke from Canada become an annual event?

There have always been wildfires. They are just getting larger and spreading more than in the past.

Remember a few years ago when Australia was on fire?

Last edited Fri Jul 17, 2026, 12:12 AM - Edit history (1)

by John Valliant. It mixes in the massive fire in Fort Murray back in 2016 with the current issues of wildfires, and the problems with the way we fight them now. They are a completely different beast to what they were only a couple of decades ago.

Climate change, drought is a huge issue, especially in BC and the prairie provinces (though flooding in Alberta this year - I don't know the state of Northern Ontario as I haven't lived in ON for decades). Another issue is zombie fires, basically wildfires that continue to smoulder in the muskeg, under the snow throughout the winter and then start up again in the spring (more relevant to northern areas of BC, the prairies and the Territories). The winters are milder and the snow cover isn't as deep, nor does it stay as long as even 25 years ago (personal observation).

There are also dying trees due to the pine beetles not being killed off in the winter, making them more vulnerable to catching fire, and forests that are being replanted are being replaced with non native species and/or species that aren't as hardy as the original.

So, so many reasons.

Edit: I also don't know if you realize just how much of Canada is covered in forest. In the case of these fires in northern Ontario - the province is 1/3 larger than Texas. Other than southern and eastern ON, most of the rest of it is thick, dense forest. So, basically the size of Texas being thick forest and lakes (ON has about 200,000 lakes). Because of all the lakes, the area tends to have higher humidity than, say, the BC interior, another problematic region).