MONTREAL (AP) — Canada Day fireworks planned for Saturday night in Montreal have been cancelled as air-quality concerns persist because of wildfires burning in northern Quebec.
The Canadian wildfires have shrouded much of the U.S. and parts of Canada in smoky haze.
Stephane Guertin of Tandem Communication, which represents the organizer of the Canada Day event, said Thursday that public health officials were unable to say if smog warnings would persist through Saturday. But he said the organizer did not want to put another pollutant in the air.
A game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and San Diego Padres was delayed 45 minutes Thursday due to poor air conditions caused by lingering smoke from wildfires in Canada.
More than 1,000 people have returned to their homes in the Phoenix suburb of Scottsdale after firefighters declared a brush fire to be 30% contained.
Canadian officials say heavy rain in Quebec in recent days missed the places where wildfires are most active, and they expect air quality to remain a concern through the summer, as long as the fires continue.
Smoky air from Canada’s wildfires is shrouding broad swaths of the U.S. from Minnesota to New York and Kentucky.
Canada Day celebrates the anniversary of the country’s confederation.
The announcement comes the day after amusement park La Ronde said it would cancel fireworks scheduled for Thursday because of air-quality concerns.
Dr. David Kaiser, deputy medical director of Montreal’s public health department, said fireworks shows can lead to high concentrations of air pollutants in nearby areas.
Environment Canada has issued a smog warning for the Montreal and Laval areas due to fine particulate matter from forest fires.
There are 490 fires burning nationally, with 255 of them considered to be out of control. Quebec’s forest fire prevention agency is reporting 110 active fires.
Canada has already surpassed the record for area burned. Nearly every province in Canada has fires burning. A record 30,000 square miles (80,000 square kilometers) of Canada has burned, an area nearly as large as South Carolina, according to the Canadian government.
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