Smoke from over 400 wildfires raging for days in the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia, Quebec and Ontario has covered the northeastern US, triggering “Code Red” air quality alerts in cities, including New York, Washington, DC, and Baltimore on Wednesday.
Nearly 100 million Americans live in areas that were under air quality alerts as of Wednesday. At least 13 states have been affected. Local governments advised residents to stay inside, use air purifiers, and wear N95 masks if venturing outdoors.
Photos and video posted to social media revealed a pervasive brownish red haze in the air, turning the sun into an angry red dot, while users complained of the burning odor.
Cities as far south as Myrtle Beach, South Carolina – more than 1,000 miles from Quebec, where the worst of the wildfires were concentrated on Wednesday – have been blanketed with haze. Tuesday night saw New York City’s air quality briefly rated the worst in the world due to the smoke.
Over 10,000 Canadians in Quebec alone have had to leave their homes due to the fires, which have engulfed more than 2,000 square kilometers of the province, according to Premier Francois Legault.
Minister of Public Safety of Canada Bill Blair described the fires as “the most severe we have ever witnessed in Canada,” warning the situation was likely to continue.