Smoke from Washington State fires to settle over Edmonton

The blanket of smoke from fires in Washington State that has been circulating throughout Alberta is expected to settle on Edmonton today.

Environment Canada has issued a special statement for Edmonton, St. Albert and Sherwood Park warning of the smoke, which will impact visibility and air quality. Even healthy individuals may experience itchy eyes and throat, and possible shortness of breath, it warns.

• Read the full statement

It's much worse in Washington, where Nick Mickel is working with firefighters to battle the Okanogan Complex a group of five clustered wildfires that together make up the largest fire zone in the state's history.

"Firefighters and the communities down here are living in a dense cloud of the smoke the last couple days," he said Thursday. Camped out at the Okanogan County Fairgrounds, Mickel said visibility was down to about 400 metres today.

Mickel estimates the fires now cover about 1,100 square kilometres, having grown about 30 square kilometres on Wednesday alone.

"We have a long way to go before we get this thing taken care of," he said.

Crews are feeling the pressure of the situation, Mickel said. Many are working 16-hour shifts before heading back to the fairgrounds, which have become a campground and command post.

Last week, three firefighters were killed andfour injured near Twisp, Wash.

"Every day we think about it, and we keep them in our thoughts," Mickel said.

As of Thursday, 1,775 firefighters were on the job, with a crew of Australian firefighters en route to help out.

But Mickel doesn't expect their work to end any time soon.

"My experience has been it's going to take a season-ending event sometime, like a snow or heavy rainstorm sometime in October, before we're really done with this thing."

In the meantime, strong winds out of the south will continue to push that smoky air into Alberta, he said. Environment Canada is forecasting smoky conditions through Friday.

"Sorry for the inconvenience it's just one of those things," Mickel said with a bit of a chuckle.