Carter Vigh, a nine-year-old boy from British Columbia, tragically died in 2023 after an asthma attack exacerbated by wildfire smoke. His death raised alarms on how air quality is monitored in rural communities. In response, his family is now working to create better systems to protect the public health through their advocacy. They’re doing it in partnership with the B.C. Lung Foundation. Combined, they’re deploying personal air quality monitoring devices in historically overlooked communities.
The summer of 2023 ushered in the most severe wildfire season ever recorded in Canada. This crisis has shown us that the need for expanded air quality monitoring is more important than ever. Wildfires burned more than 25,000 km² of forest cover during the summer, causing widespread air quality issues. The smoke resulted in at least 5,400 acute deaths worldwide. Worse, it was linked to at least 82,100 premature deaths, underscoring the critical importance of proactive monitoring and enforcement.
Amber Vigh and her family are as terrified by these numbers as we are. They are committed to ensuring that a legacy for their son is one that leads to better air quality awareness and monitoring across the province.
The Push for Better Monitoring
Carter Vigh’s parents aren’t the only ones seeking to monitor their air quality. They’ve partnered with the B.C. Lung Foundation to bring unique programs to life. Each of these initiatives will bring personal air quality monitors to rural communities, such as Gold River and 70 Mile House. This program puts the power in residents’ hands by giving them access to data that outlines their neighborhood’s air quality in real-time. Armed with this knowledge, they can then better determine when it’s safe to venture outdoors.
Amber Vigh expressed frustration over the existing gaps in monitoring, stating, “We checked the air quality on our phone, not knowing that our closest air quality monitor was a hundred kilometers away.” She knows that timely, reliable local information can really move the needle. It would have ensured that her son and others like him didn’t suffer in the first place.
As Christopher Lam, president and CEO of the B.C. Lung Foundation, told us, these improvements can’t come soon enough. “There are significant gaps in air quality monitoring across rural B.C.,” he said. “We need to ensure that communities have the tools they need to protect their health.”
Health Risks Associated with Wildfire Smoke
The health impacts of wildfire smoke go beyond acute respiratory effects. Chris Carlsten, who directs the Air Pollution Exposure Laboratory at the University of British Columbia, noted that exposure to wildfire smoke can negatively affect every system in the body. “It’s actually worse for the lungs than traditional traffic-related pollution,” he said. “We’re starting to see disease in the blood vessels themselves, and we’re even starting to see disease in the central nervous system or the brain.”
Now, health officials are warning communities to look out for smoky days and take action accordingly. Recommendations address reducing exposure during outdoor activities when air quality is unhealthy, and increasing indoor air quality. Sarah Henderson, a public health expert, highlighted that “if the indoor air quality is clean, 90 per cent of our health is protected.” She added, “When we’re talking about deaths, we’re talking about the very tip of the iceberg of those health impacts.”
The true story of Roland Latimer, another nine-year-old with asthma, shows just how vital access to accurate air quality information can be. So now, every day he looks at his air quality index before even going outside. “I feel very trapped when I can’t go outside because of my asthma. It’s really frustrating,” he shared. His family wants to underscore that accurate data is critical to ensuring the safest decisions are made about how and when we recreate outdoors.
A Legacy of Awareness
The tragic loss of Carter Vigh serves as a catalyst for change in rural British Columbia concerning air quality monitoring. His family is determined to keep his memory alive. They work to hold these agencies accountable and work to stop similar tragedies from befalling other families. Their work has been made possible by partnering with organizations such as the B.C. Lung Foundation. Their ultimate aim is to create a community-wide culture of accountability regarding air quality.
Amber Vigh shared her vision of a day when families will be able to get real-time information about what’s in their environment. “If we had real-time accurate air quality monitors … we might have stayed inside instead,” she said. Her family’s advocacy work exemplifies the increasingly vocal community realization that pollution monitoring systems need to be established and maintained at the local level.
An unprecedented number of citizens and organizations are fighting to improve air quality monitoring. The rural communities that this movement represents make an urgent call for the protection of public health in all corners of British Columbia.
