Air Quality (AQ) advisories remain in place across the province as wildfire smoke continues to blanket our area.

Albertans have gotten used to waking up to a hazy, sepia sky since early July, and weather experts have issued several special air quality statements throughout much of the province.

Inspector Jeff Avery with Cochrane Fire Services says that while the poor AQ isn't foreign to our area, it's especially strong today.

"Today seems like the worst day of smoke for sure," says Avery. "I did go outside and all you can taste and smell is smoke, it's just socked in."

The advisory which remains in place for Cochrane and the surrounding area was issued by Environment and Climate Change Canada on Saturday, August 14, and has persistently worsened since that time.

This past Friday fire crews responded to a large grass fire along Highway 1, east of Dead Man's Flats, near Canmore. Avery says that firefighters with the help of helicopters, and air tankers have been able to contain that wildfire which is now listed as "being held." He says that could all change though, depending on the wind.

"They have enough resources there right now to keep that under control, so hopefully the wind stays away," says Avery. "That's the one thing that's been on our side right now, we haven't seen those really strong winds that we normally see in Cochrane."

Avery doesn't believe that particular wildfire is the culprit behind Cochrane's current air quality.

"Most of this is still coming from BC," explains Avery. "If they can get a week's worth of rain and get things under control then we'll probably see the smoke lighten up a little bit here. There's a lot of forces in BC right now battling all those fires. There's still around 300 of them burning out of control."

According to Environment Canada, the air quality and visibility can fluctuate over short distances and can vary considerably from hour to hour. They are advising anyone with an underlying respiratory condition to take extra caution.