While air quality has improved for Courtenay, winter nights are still a concern.
That comes from updated data from the BC government, finding the average concentration of fine particulate matter, an ingredient for smoke, has been dropping since 2017.
While the air is less smokey, the same matter goes up on winter nights and early mornings, according to City manager of Environmental Engineering Jeanniene Tazzoli.
“This pattern is consistent with the times of day that people are likely to be home and using wood burning appliances,” said Tazzoli.
The City says on those nights, they find older neighbourhoods that use wood burning appliances consistently have the highest readings of the particulate matter.
The data also find the matter increases during times of wildfire smoke, where readings were elevated throughout the City last summer.
The city recommends only using wood burning appliances during times of emergency use or events of extreme weather to lower these increases.
