Hot News: Smoke from forest fires covers Edmonton in haze and ash

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EDMONTON - The capital city was covered in an orange haze Wednesday morning, as winds from the northwest blew smoke and ash from forest fires into the region.

Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development says it's hard to pinpoint where the ash is coming from.

A spokesperson for the department believes the smoke is a combination of a couple of different fires in Alberta, N.W.T. and B.C.

'The winds are out of the northwest,' explains Global Edmonton meteorologist Nicola Crosbie. 'So it could be the N.W.T., it could be some of the other fires that are burning in the High Level area... that's bringing all this smoke in.'

'The higher pressure is becoming more intense,' she adds. 'Any pollutants that are within the city already, and anything being funneled in, will get trapped because it can't go anywhere.'

'Instead of rising air... the air is just descending.'

Sure miss #yeg blue skies. Haze covering the sun and ash swirling around. My backyard has orange hue. pic.twitter.com/WuZ7Bj7Qck

- Sara Mulvihill (@mulvihill12) July 16, 2014

Literally ash falling from the sky today in #yeg. It's like we live near Mt.St.Helens. #smokyhaze pic.twitter.com/PmSkbLOqDF

- Chris Scheetz (@ChrisScheetz) July 16, 2014

As of 11 a.m. Wednesday, Environment Canada's Air Quality Health Index for Edmonton was listed as 4 - the low end of moderate risk.

Crosbie believes it will be increased to a level 5 for the next update. Alberta Environment has Edmonton's air quality level at 5.

A Precautionary Air Quality Advisory was issued for the North, Edmonton and Central zones of Alberta Health Services on July 7. That advisory is still in effect.

Crews in B.C. are currently battling dozens of wildfires across the province, and there are a number of evacuation alerts and orders in place.

A serious wildfire near the B.C.-Alberta border caused the Municipal District of Greenview to declare a state of local emergency and evacuation order for parts of its region Tuesday evening. READ MORE: Fire near B.C.-Alberta border prompts evacuation order

There are about 175 fires burning in the Northwest Territories.

© Shaw Media, 2014

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