Poor air quality in Canada due to devastating fires has alerted the northeastern United States as smoke has blanketed New York with a dense orange haze.
In New York, the Statue of Liberty and part of Manhattan’s skyscrapers were shrouded in fog and the air pollution alert extends from Chicago to Atlanta.
Quebec has been the hardest hit city, and has deployed hundreds of people on the ground, and with international help, including firefighters from France to augment the assistance alongside national firefighters.
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More than 20,000 people have even fled the country, and most of them are from Quebec, and the government has been prepared to evacuate another 4,000, as forecasts indicate that the smoke could linger for days.
The fires originated due to low pressure in New England, directing the smoke to the province of Quebec, where there were already more than 100 active fires in the center of the city.
Now, Canada and the U.S. are in for a smoky summer, with Canada’s longest fire season, which usually does not end until September, already beginning to affect the countries’ air quality since mid-May.
