Last summer a layer of smoke, enveloped by an orange glow, overtook a large chunk of the country.

What You Need To Know

  • Canadian wildfires resulted in poor quality in many parts of the U.S. last summer

  • The CDC says ER visits were up 17% for people with asthma

  • The U.S. sent additional resources to Canada last year

Unprecedented wildfires in Canada sent smoke hundreds and thousands of miles south, creating a cocktail of smog and haze that many Americans were not accustomed to.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found emergency room visits for people with asthma were 17% higher in the United States than normal during the 19 peak days of Canadian wildfire smoke last year.

Ken Mendez has asthma and is the CEO of the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America.

“Definitely felt the trouble breathing, you know, you’re coughing, wheezing, tightness in chest,” Mendez said.

It’s normal for the U.S. to send assistance to Canada and vice versa, but last year, Canada was sent much more help than normal.

The National Interagency Fire C.enter said it sent more than 2,700 resources to Canada — including aircraft, fire engines and firefighting teams.

While the U.S. government hasn’t allocated additional resources for Canada this year, wildfires across the country have led the federal government to focus on retention and recruitment of firefighters.

“Just recognizing the holistic problem that wildfires are presenting across the world … we’re trying to increase who we are, increasing our workforce,” National Multi-Agency Coordinating Group Vice-Chair Shane McDonald said.

On Monday, the U.S. Department of the Interior announced $79 million to support wildland fire management. The money will be used to not only reduce the risk from wildfires but also rehabilitate burned areas and enhance technology used by wildfire incident management teams.

Under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law signed by President Joe Biden, the Department of the Interior is investing $1.5 billion over five years to “better support its wildland firefighting workforce and increase the resilience of communities and lands facing the threat of wildfires.”

Wildfire smoke is a normal part of the summer in the western U.S., but scientists say because of climate change, the wildfires, and likewise, the poor air quality, will only get worse.

“Certainly folks with health impacts need to be prepared for those kind of occurrences,” McDonald said.

Meaning the orange haze that many Americans saw in 2023 could return.

Not all of last summer’s Canadian wildfires are likely gone. Some of them might have turned into what’s known as zombie fires, which means they slowly burn below the surface during the cold months.   

"We're not expecting the impacts that we had last year. Could there be days where there are smoke impacts to the public? Absolutely. And folks should be prepared for that," McDonald said.