Wildfire smoke triggers major health warning

Well, smoke from the wildfires in Canada right now covering parts of the Northeast and Ontario. Canadians say they're starting to feel the effects of all of that smoke as well. So Fox's Asher Ed is in Toronto, Canada, joining us right now with a look at that. You know what folks are experiencing there. It sounds like it's not so great right now, Asher. Well, at least we can actually see blue skies today, which is a fantastic sign for folks here in Canada who have been breathing in wildfire smoke for the past three days. And almost everyone that I spoke with on the street tells me that they started to feel headaches, sore throats and even watery eyes. Really orangey, foggy, very apocalyptic. Um, and then obviously my nose kind of starts hurting and throat is dry, just uncomfortable. Like you feel like you're getting a cold. It felt like I'm smoking basically and I don't smoke. And as you can see, the smoke was quite thick this morning. We were looking at about three miles of visibility then, but now we've improved to 15 miles. Canadian health officials say the air here in Toronto has gone down to a moderate risk and they're asking Children and elderly people to limit strenuous outdoor activities. The city has closed all outdoor pools and has moved many of these summer camps that we see this time of year indoors. And a lot of people are still walking around with the city with masks on to protect themselves from breathing in any of this lingering smoke, headache, itchy, watery eyes. Well, yesterday, not the whole day, but part of it. I used a mouth today. I used it the whole time. Just took it off now because I was shopping and nearly 900 wildfires are raging across Canada right now, burning more than 2.5 million acres. Reports show that the largest fire has scorched more than 850,000 acres. That fire is 700 miles northwest of where I am and forecasters say that's where most of the smoke we're seeing in the United States and here in Toronto is coming from. Ontario Premier Doug Ford says 150 fire crews and nearly 50 firefighting aircraft are working to extinguish these fires around the clock and people are hoping the wind will keep doing what it's doing to get this smoke as far away from Toronto as possible. They're also hoping that some rain in the near future and the near forecast could help simmer some of this smoke down and get even more of it out of the air. But of course, it could take a while until we see the end of these wildfires as they still rage on on the other side of Ontario. Back to you. Yeah, Asher, I can't believe how how much of an improvement it looks like they're behind you compared to some of the video that we were showing. So I know you mentioned that folks there are ready to get this out of there so that they can breathe well again. Maybe a sense of optimism since things are headed in the right direction. Yeah, a lot of people think that right now the conditions are trending towards the right direction. A lot of people also think with the air quality is good. Now it will be good a few days from now, but we don't know exactly what's gonna happen with the smoke that continues to come up from those wildfires. But I can tell you from just being outside all day yesterday, the smoke is a lot. I mean, a lot of the Northeast United States is dealing with it. And Canadians, of course, being right next to the fires, they're dealing with it hard to. Yeah, certainly. So giving us a live look there in Ontario, Canada, Fox is Asher Red Asher. Thank you so much for that. We appreciate it. 11 36. Now let's turn our focus to some other areas that are feeling the effects and really seeing the effects of the smoke that Asher was talking about. Those dangerous smoke continues to linger over the Northeast as we take a look here at the White House. You can kind of see what we're talking about there behind it. So many cities urging residents just to stay inside as air quality concerns grow. According to the National Weather Service, a lingering high pressure system has trapped that smoke close to the ground. So that's certainly a lot of of what folks are experiencing right now. And with all of the smoke from the Canadian wildfires causing these health concerns, officials have compared the wildfire smoke exposure to secondhand smoke. They warn that it can have a wide range of effects on people, not just those with breathing issues, Children with hard to control asthma. Also, women who are pregnant people with pre existing heart conditions need to be aware of what's happening right now. Doctors recommend staying indoors, closing windows and keeping the air conditioner on. Even if you need to venture outside, they say, make it quick and wear an N 95 mask as you do that.