A nine-year-old British Columbia boy, Carter Vigh, died this summer of an asthma attack worsened by wildfire smoke, according to his parents. Almost four months after the sudden death of their child, Amber and James Vigh want to distribute air quality monitors in their community to save lives.
The British Columbia Coroners Service assured CBC/Radio-Canada that an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the child’s death is ongoing.
Carter’s father, James Vigh, believes his son would still be alive if air quality monitoring devices had been installed near their home.
In the days before his death, young Carter Vigh’s parents had checked the local air quality health index before letting him participate in outdoor activities. As they remembered, the index suggested low risk.
However, the closest air quality monitoring site to the 100 Mile House is in Williams Lake, almost 100 kilometers from the Vigh House in British Columbia. According to BC Lung Foundation Executive Director Chris Lam, the data collected for the 100 Mile House community is unreliable.
A project to save lives
So the grieving parents decided to partner with the BC Lung Foundation to create a new project named in their son’s honor.
My son would have moved mountains. Today we’re helping him move mountains even though he’s not here.
The Carter’s Project, fully funded by this foundation, will provide 100 air quality monitors. They will be installed in backyards throughout the 100 Mile House community.
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PurpleAir monitors detect smoke particles from wildfires and then transmit that information to an online map for the public to view.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Kate Kyle
This project includes air quality awareness programs and training for anyone who uses any of these devices.
The air quality monitors were developed by PurpleAir, a company based in Utah, USA, and cost $300 each. Any resident who has one of these devices can evaluate air quality online (New Window) (in English), which is measured using sensors throughout 100 Mile House.
The BC Lung Foundation hopes to have these devices installed at 100 Mile House by March, before wildfire season, says Chris Lam.
Carter’s parents wanted to move on despite the tragic loss of their son to ensure his death was not in vain and that they could help others, assures general manager Chris Lam.
Pretty precise devices
The University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) and Environment and Climate Change Canada also use PurpleAir measuring devices. These two organizations collected the data and created an air quality map (New Window). This map provides real-time data on the amount of particulate matter in the air in more than a hundred locations across the country.
Peter Jackson, a professor of environmental science at UNBC, led this project. He claims that these inexpensive sensors are actually quite accurate.
Government sensors can cost between $25,000 and $50,000.
Small towns or rural areas that may be affected by wildfire smoke often have no form of monitoring. Peter Jackson believes these inexpensive devices will be a blessing for these communities.
A record wildfire season
In 2023, British Columbia experienced a destructive wildfire season.
The province has officially doubled its previous record for area burned in a fire season. Around 28,500 square kilometers of forest went up in smoke this year. The old record from 2018 was around 13,500 square kilometers. For several weeks, cities and communities suffered from the effects of deteriorated air quality caused by wildfire smoke.
Air quality is typically monitored by federal and state governments using sophisticated equipment.
Environment Canada has 286 sites in every province and territory that make up its National Air Pollution Monitoring Network program (New Window). However, Chris Lam believes that this precise data is unreliable because there are not enough devices in the province.
With information from Sarah Penton and Catherine Rolfsen