Many Okanagan residents woke up to a sky filled with wildfire smoke Wednesday morning, after a fire burning near Keremeos, B.C. produced large plumes of smoke Tuesday night, causing challenges for those with underlying health issues, children, seniors, and those who work outside.
For roofers like Jerod Penner and his crew members, working outside in the hot summer heat is part of the job description.
“Whenever we can, we like to start as early as possible,” said Premium Roofing manager, Jerod Penner. “If that’s setting up at around 6 o’clock or 6:30 so we can start at 7 and get cracking as early as possible. Start early and finish early.”
With a thick blanket of smoke consuming the Okanagan valley, Penner says the poor air quality mixed with the heat makes working outdoors makes the work increasingly difficult.
“It does slow you down, you’ve got to move a little slower, and you’ll notice it,” said Penner. “A headache is also a pretty common occurrence at that point. We try and drink lots of water.”
According to Interior Health, there are a number of ways the public can protect themselves from the smoke.
“The most important thing people can do is reduce their exposure to the poor air quality and the smoke, and one of the things people can do is to stay indoors as much as possible,” said Interior Health medical health officer, Dr. Sue Pollock. “Everybody can be affected by poor air quality,”
While taking a day off and staying indoors sounds like a simple solution, that’s not always an option for those who work outdoors.
“Everyone still has to get their job done, make money, and we do what we need to do to make sure everybody is still working safely and able to continue,” said Penner.
Dr. Pollock suggests knowing the signs of when it might be time to head indoors, even if that means calling it quits early, before it’s too late.
“People may experience irritated eyes, a runny nose, (or) a scratchy or sore throat. Those are early symptoms people might have during poor air quality,” said Dr. Pollock.
“When people should really start to be concerned is when they have shortness of breath, health palpations or chest pain, or if they’re generally feeling unwell, that’s a time to seek medical care.”
Despite facing an uphill battle when working outside during wildfire season, Penner says this year hasn’t been nearly as bad as some years in the past.
“It’s nice that we haven’t had too much smoke this year, but we’ve had previous years where its been much worse,” said Penner. “About five years ago I remember I couldn’t even see two blocks ahead of me.”
As of 3 p.m., the Central Okanagan’s air quality health index was listed at 10 +, meaning very high risk.
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