Wildfire in west Canada cause heavy smoke in Vancouver

Metro Vancouver, which was regarded as one of the most livable cities in the world, is blanketed by heavy smoke over the past two days, caused by wildfires raging across Canada's western province of British Columbia.

Vancouver residents awoke on Monday morning to a strong smell of campfires, a scent that was perceptible even inside office buildings.

"This is the first time in my life to come across such a bad quality of air," a pedestrian in downtown Vancouver complained with a mask on his face.

An air quality advisory from Metro Vancouver issued late Sunday afternoon remained in effect on Monday.

Meanwhile, the forest wildfires across the province have forced hundreds of people out of their homes, police and local officials said on Monday.

The tinder-dry forest conditions -- combined with an unusual amount of lightning early in the summer season -- have resulted in 180 forest fires burning in the province as of Sunday, said B.C. Wildfire Service officials.

All of the province's 1,000 forest firefighters, backed up by 400 contract firefighters, are busy, said chief fire information officer Kevin Skrepnek on Sunday.

"There is still a possibility we could get some widespread rain that hits the reset button a bit, but certainly if conditions stay the way they are we are going to be in pretty volatile situation," Skrepnek said in a statement.

Sarah Henderson, an environmental health scientist in University of British Columbia, told Xinhua in a recent interview that people now had to expect more extreme weather which would happen more frequently than before.

"One of our biggest concerns is the intersection of very hot weather with very poor air quality, and certainly when we have forest fires burning in parts of the province, they will cause episodes of the poorest air quality that Canadians will ever experience," she said. Endite