Smoke from a massive peat bog fire in Delta, B.C. descended on western Whatcom County today as dozens of people called county emergency dispatch centers wondering about the musty haze.
“It’s widespread, all over western Whatcom County,” said Brian Flannelly, public information officer for Bellingham Fire Department. “We’re getting scattered calls from this all over the region.”

About 50 people called 9-1-1 dispatchers this morning, Flannelly said.

The smoke is coming from the Burns Bog fire and blanketed the Lower B.C. Mainland Monday, spreading as far as Vancouver Island.

Officials estimated that by this morning, the fire had consumed almost 2 square kilometers, or 1.25 square miles, of forested peat bog.

The Greater Vancouver Regional District issued an air-quality advisory Monday, advising people sensitive to air pollution to stay away from the smoke.

Heavy smoke and fog are hampering work today by crews battling the massive fire, according to The Province newspaper in Vancouver, B.C. Mayor Lois Jackson said the fire department has been forced to delay an aerial survey of the burning bog until the weather is more clear.

The fire at Burns Bog, a protected conservation area home to black bears, bald eagles and other species, was reported Sunday. The cause is unknown.

The Burns Bog provides habitat to rare plants and animals. Last year, Canadian federal, provincial and local governments came to an agreement that allowed a large piece of it to be protected as an Ecological Conservancy Area.