(Manitoba Government)
BISMARCK, N.D. (KFGO) – Wildfire smoke from Canadian fires burning out of control could impact parts of North Dakota and Minnesota. Some areas across northeastern Minnesota are under an Air Quality Alert through Friday evening before spreading south Saturday. That could impact a larger area of Minnesota, and additional air quality alerts may be needed.
Ryan Mills, Manager of the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality’s Ambient Air Monitoring Program, says while smoke is aloft across parts of North Dakota, it hasn’t yet reached the surface in the state.
Mills says residents should use the AirNow.gov website and mobile app, which provide reliable, up-to-the-minute information 24/7.
A Manitoba-wide state of emergency was declared because of the wildfires in the northern eastern and western parts of Manitoba.
More than 17,000 residents have evacuated. The premier of the province says this may be the largest mass evacuation since 1997 when about 20,000 people were forced to flee the Red River Valley during what was considered the flood of the century.
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