Satellite view of smoke from British Columbia wildfires covering Vancouver Island, 5 July 2015. Photo: wasmoke.blogspot.com Smoke map as of 3:30 p.m. on 5 July 2015 shows smoke moving to the Olympic Peninsula from Vancouver Island. Photo: Courtesy of Paradise Fire information

By Susan Wyatt
5 July 2015 (KING 5 News) – Smoke from wildfires in British Columbia was streaming into Western Washington on Sunday, causing an eerie yellow cast to the skies. More than 50 new wildfires were sparked over this weekend alone. Officials with the Paradise Fire said local 911 dispatchers in the Port Angeles area have been swamped with calls. Paradise fire information staff said the smoke coming from the north into Port Angeles is from fires in Canada, NOT the Paradise Fire. More than 60 wildfires are burning in British Columbia alone, and the National Weather Service Seattle said a smoke plume from a wildfire near Pemberton covered a good portion of Vancouver Island and on into Washington. Some of the smoke on Sunday was also going down the west side of the Olympic Peninsula as well, and could affect Forks, Queets and even Quinault, Paradise Fire officials said. [more]

B.C. wildfire smoke streams into the Northwest — image

PORT ANGELES, Washington, 5 July 2015 (Associated Press) – Fire officials in Washington state say smoke from wildfires in Canada, not Washington, is casting a haze over the Port Angeles area. Meteorologist Mike McFarland with the National Weather Service in Seattle winds are blowing smoke from wildfires burning on Vancouver Island southward, over British Columbia and into the Port Angeles area. He says the haze could hang over the area through Sunday evening. Officials handling the Paradise Fire, which has been burning in a remote part of the Olympic National Park, say local 911 dispatchers in the area have been swamped with calls. They say there is no increased danger from that blaze, which has been burning for several weeks. Some of the smoke is traveling down the west side of the Olympic Peninsula.

Smoke from Canada wildfires streaming over Port Angeles — Smoke from wildfires in British Columbia darkens skies over Port Angeles, Washington, 5 July 2015. Photo: Christen Janda

PORT ANGELES, 5 July 2015 (Q13) – Smoke from more than 70 wildfires around British Columbia has drifted south of the border, giving a hazy, smoky air to Port Angeles, the San Juan Islands and other towns in Washington state. According to the CBC, smoke from wildfires around British Columbia cast a haze over Vancouver and Victoria Sunday. Many people in Port Angeles also reported a heavy air filled with smoke. Officials with the National Park Service confirmed the smoke was indeed from multiple Canadian wildfires, originating largely from the Kootenays, Port Hardy and Boulder Creek wildfires. More than 70 wildfires greater than 10 hectares burned in B.C., with more than 170 total wildfires reported. [more]

Smoke from more than 70 B.C. wildfires puts parts of Western Washington in haze — 'Forest-fire smoke over Howe Sound, B.C., from the Sechelt fire, like a sci-fi novel cover,' tweeted Tim Bray on 5 July 2015. Photo: Tim Bray / Twitter

‘Forest-fire smoke over Howe Sound, B.C., from the Sechelt fire, like a sci-fi novel cover,’ tweeted Tim Bray. Photo: Tim Bray / Twitter

Smoky skies from wildfires snapped by residents in B.C. — CBC's Rafferty Baker took this hazy shot of Vancouver's smoke-filled skies on the night of 4 July 2015. Photo: Rafferty Baker / CBC

CBC’s Rafferty Baker took this hazy shot of Vancouver’s smoke-filled skies on the night of 4 July 2015. Photo: Rafferty Baker / CBC

Smoky skies from wildfires snapped by residents in B.C.