Air quality warnings have been issued for millions across North America due to smoke spreading from ongoing wildfires in Canada.
The effects of hundreds of wildfires burning in Quebec are being felt more than 450 miles away in New York City and Connecticut where air quality advisories for health have been issued.
In New York the Statue of Liberty was surrounded in a haze caused by the wildfires.
Closer to the blazes wildfire smoke has blanketed major cities in Ontario and Quebec, including Toronto and its surrounding areas.
Environment Canada issued its strongest warning on Tuesday for Ottawa, deeming the air quality in the Canadian capital a “very high risk” to people’s health.
In Toronto and surrounding areas, the air quality has been classified as “high risk”.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has classified air quality in large parts of the north-eastern US as “unhealthy”, particularly for people who already had respiratory issues.
Northern Quebec’s largest town was being evacuated on Tuesday as firefighters worked to beat back threats from out-of-control blazes in remote communities in the northern and northwestern parts of the province.
According to the province’s forest fire prevention agency, more than 150 forest fires were burning in the province on Tuesday, including more than 110 deemed out of control.
Late Tuesday, authorities issued an evacuation order for Chibougamau, Quebec, a town of about 7,500 in the remote region of the province.
Authorities said the evacuation was underway and promised more details Wednesday.
Fires across the country have already burned more than 3.3m hectares of land - an area 12 times the 10-year average for this time of year.
Thousands of people have been evacuated across the country, including in Quebec, where fires have burned around 200,000 hectares to date.
Major fires have also been burning in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Nova Scotia and the Northwest Territories.
