North Dakota’s worst day for air quality in a long time due to Canadian wildfires

BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) – Wednesday was North Dakota’s worst day for air quality in a long time.

“I don’t know if I ever remember it being this thick. I’ve lived in North Dakota all of my life, and this is incredible. Kind of incredibly scary,” said Jan Warren from Bismarck.

The haze is coming from wildfires in northwest Canada, but it doesn’t seem like it for those who can smell it.

“Gosh, it doesn’t smell like it’s too far north,” said Warren.

Usually, North Dakota’s air quality measurements are in the single digits on the Air Quality Index. Wednesday, Beulah recorded an AQI of more than 1,000.

“I thought this morning that we had analyzers that weren’t functioning correctly because I had never seen these kinds of numbers before,” said Ryan Mills with the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality, Division of Air Quality.

As for when the smoke will clear, Mills says it’s anyone’s guess because air quality forecasting technology is still in its infancy.

“I would love to be able to tell folks, ‘Hey, let’s hunker down for a few hours, here, it’ll clear up,’ but I don’t know. I won’t know until you know,” said Mills.

But as long as conditions are like this, the Environmental Protection Agency recommends people stay inside.

Mills says North Dakota usually has some of the cleanest air in the country.

Continuing Coverage: ‘Hazardous’ air quality reported; Department of Environmental Quality urges caution during smoky conditions

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