Wildfire smoke covering Montreal prompts smog warning from Environment Canada

Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) issued a smog warning for the Montreal area on Friday morning as wildfiresmoke once again covered the city in a haze.

The agency's warning comes as Quebec grapples with the worst wildfire season in decades.

Reinforcement firefighters from around the world, including France, Portugal and Spain,are helping Quebec's forest fire fighting agency, SOPFEU, battle more than 100 fires, most of which are burning in the western and northern regions of the province.

Natural Resources and Forests Minister Mat Blanchette Vzinasaid Friday morning that there are still 104 active fires in the province, though most are contained. The worst are still inChibougamauandLebel-sur-Quvillon.

"The situation today is not as good as we would have liked. There hasn't been enough rainto make sure that the situation is under control," she said.

Many of those who had to leave their homes to flee the threat of the fires have now returned home, or are expected to do so soon.

Lebel-sur-Quvillon, a town in the Jamsie territory in northwest Quebec, announced on its Facebook page Thursday evening that residents could begin to return home.

Thousands who fled south from the town of Chibougamau, in northern Quebec, earlier this month are also returning home.

"The good news is we have resources from the United States that are going to Lebel-sur-Quvillon to make sure that we control more the fire there," saidBlanchette Vzina.

"Everybody is mobilized there so we want to make sure that the situation is safe enough for people to go back to their community."

But town officials there warned people with health problems to stay away because of the continued risk of smog from the nearby fires.

That smog drifted south to Montreal Friday morning, and those with asthma or respiratory ailments should take precautions, ECCC said.

"It is therefore recommended that these individuals avoid intense physical activity outdoors until the smog warning is lifted," the agency said in its warning.

Third-party air quality tracking websites registered Montreal's air quality index a metric that tracks the concentration and threat of harmful particles in the air as above 100, a number that means it is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

Canada's Air Quality Health Index measured Montreal's air as high risk on Friday.

Blanchette Vzinasaid that though some forests have reopened, fire bans are still in place north of the St. Lawrence River. With hot temperatures forecasted next week, the situation is constantly evolving and can change overnight, she said.