Canadian wildfires trigger air quality alert in Iowa

The smoke from Canadian wildfires left a thick haze over West Des Moines' Raccoon River Park this week. (Photo by Clark Kauffman/Iowa Capita Dispatch)
Smoke from the fires currently ravaging the Canadian wilderness arrived at Iowa's northern border Monday night and will likely impact air quality throughout the state in the coming days.
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has announced an air quality alert across Iowa that will be in effect until 6 a.m., Thursday, June 5. During this time, Iowa DNR expects the air to contain an unhealthy amount of hazardous airborne pollutants from the wildfire smoke.
'It's like predicting snowfall,' said Todd Russell, one of the ambient air monitoring staff at Iowa DNR. 'It's difficult to tell how much smoke is up there, how much smoke will reach the ground and how long it's going to last.'
Russell said the decision to put the alert in effect came after observing levels of particulates 'multiple times the federal standard' in northern Iowa towns, such as Emmetsburg, for several hours. Areas near the Minnesota border are still seeing high levels of particulates, he said.
Based on several models of smoke movement that mirrored the changes the Iowa DNR observed on Monday night, Russell says his 'conservative' estimate is that the smoke will remain at least through Wednesday evening.
According to AirNow, a central hub of EPA air-quality information at state and national levels, individuals with lung or heart diseases, children, teenagers, pregnant women, adults over the age of 65 and people more likely to be outside for extended periods are at risk of more severe health effects caused by the smoke. However, AirNow recommends everyone reduce their exposure.
'Stay away from it if you can and minimize your exercise or intake of that smoke if you can't get away from it,' Russell said.
As of June 3, the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center reports 213 active fires, of which 106 are 'out of control.' The area burned by these fires since the start of 2025 is greater than 4.8 million acres of land. The National Interagency Fire Center in Idaho announced 150 federal firefighters would be mobilized to help suppress fires in Alberta and Manitoba provinces.
Minnesota and Wisconsin have similar alerts in effect currently.
Real-time updates on air quality and affected areas are available here.

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