Sparwood Wildfire Smoke Map
Follow modelled wildfire smoke around Sparwood and Kootenays with FireRadar's hourly ECCC FireWork forecast guidance.
How to read smoke around Sparwood
Sparwood is an Elk Valley community surrounded by forested mountain slopes, mining and resource activity, rural recreation, and Highway 3. Wildfires can affect valley travel, industrial access, backcountry use, neighbouring communities, and smoke across terrain where steep topography makes conditions highly local. Smoke affecting this area can come from nearby incidents or be transported over much longer distances, while wind, terrain, frontal changes, inversions, and local lake or coastal circulations can change what reaches the surface. FireRadar therefore presents ECCC FireWork as forecast guidance rather than a ground-level measurement, and the model should be compared with current observations and official health guidance when conditions matter.
Forecast, not a measurement
FireWork estimates near-surface PM2.5 attributable to wildfire smoke. It can differ from actual conditions around Sparwood because emissions, wind, terrain, mixing, precipitation, and model timing change. Use current AQHI observations and local health advisories when conditions matter to health.
A focused starting view, not a clipped dataset
This page starts the national FireRadar layer around Sparwood. The underlying FireWork smoke field is not clipped to municipal boundaries, so nearby conditions remain visible as you pan or zoom. FireRadar does not infer a uniform value inside a city boundary.
Health and safety limitation
FireRadar is an informational environmental map. Follow Environment and Climate Change Canada, provincial health agencies, local public-health guidance, and emergency authorities for health or safety decisions. This page does not diagnose exposure, determine whether outdoor activity is safe, or predict individual health effects.
Related Sparwood wildfire context
Smoke and air quality can change even when no confirmed wildfire is close to Sparwood. Use the local wildfire page for current official incidents, the fire-danger page for broad fire-weather context, and the province view when you need a wider regional picture.