The wildfires that have been burning in British Columbia have caused a lot of residents a lot of headaches. Earlier this week, the effects of the wildfires started to spread to the Vancouver area although the fires themselves remain in the interior. There was an air-quality advisory in effect stemming from concerns over the far-reaching smoke, however, as of Wednesday evening, residents of the metro-Vancouver area can literally breathe easier. Other areas are still affected by the smoke, but as of Wednesday afternoon Vancouver's advisory was lifted.

Smoky Skies warning not in effect in Vancouver

The government of British Columbia maintains a listing of air-quality advisories around the province. At the time of this writing, there were still "Smoky Skies" warnings for the Southern Interior and the Kootenays, the Cariboo region, the Prince George area, and in and around Valemount in the province's far east. Valemount itself is very close to Jasper National Park in Alberta, the province that neighbors British Columbia to the east. The Twitter account affiliated with the government website retweeted information on Wednesday afternoon. It said: "Yesterday's #AirQuality Advisory for fine particulate matter in #MetroVancouver & #FraserValley has been lifted due changing weather" <sic>.

News shouldn't detract from problems

The news is good news for the people living in Vancouver, however, it shouldn't detract from all the problems that the wildfires are causing.

Evacuations, travel advisories from VIA Rail and Greyhound, looting and arrests, and property loss are just some of the problems that are being lived through for those in the BC interior, many of which have had to flee to other areas.

It's hard to tell what's bigger news in the province of British Columbia at the moment, the changing of the government as the NDP take power or the wildfires that are directly affecting tens of thousands of people.

Perhaps the most concerning part is that the fires range on and it's still only mid-July. News of the devastation promises to be highly covered in the days ahead as people are now allowed to return to some areas that were scorched.

BC had fire problems two years ago, while last summer was quiet on that front. However, the Fort McMurray fire raged in Alberta in 2016. This year's fires in British Columbia are accompanied by fires in California, fires that are also leading to evacuations in that part of the United States.