Fires contributed to Lavington air quality advisory

In early January high levels of fine particulate matter in the air triggered an air quality advisory in Lavington.

Cold temperatures were keeping air stagnant and stopping typical every day emissions from dissipating as quickly as they normally would, but the Ministry of Environment said there was also some unusual fire activity that may have played a role.

Air quality meteorologist Tarek Ayache said that an open burn was lit at a Gorman Brothers Lumber location, up wind from Lavington, two days before the advisory was issued and an accidental fire spontaneously started in a hog pile at a Tolko facility in mid-December.

“There also might have been open burning around Lavington that we don’t know about. Any fires that were happening around that time, including those two fires, would have added fine particulates to the air shed,” said Ayache.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "There also might have been open burning around Lavington that we don't know about. Any fires that were happening around that time, including those two fires, would have added fine particulates to the air shed," said Ayache.

Gorman Brothers did not make anyone available for an on-camera interview Monday but an employee defended the company’s actions, saying it had a permit for the annual burn and it followed that permit.

She added that the company checked the venting the day before they fire was started and, at that point, it looked like there would be a good venting window to allow them to have the burn.

That turned out not to be the case. Venting conditions were fair on the day the fire started and become poor on the following days, as it continued to burn.

Tolko admits there was a hog pile fire in mid-December, but denies it was an ongoing issue. The company said the hog pile fire would not have been a significant contributor to the advisory weeks later.

Ayache said there were also a number of open burns in the area around that time registered with the B.C. Wildfire Service but there was no way of knowing if any of the fires were active on any specific day.

Read More: Advisory shines spotlight on Lavington air quality

Warmer temperatures and precipitation have helped to clear the air in Lavington.

“The air quality has been notably better in Lavington since the time of the advisory,” he said.

The air quality advisory was in place from January 5 to 7.