Special air quality statement issued for Calgary and surrounding area amid wildfire smoke

You can see it, smell it and probably even taste it.

The smoke is back in Calgary.

Air quality has deteriorated and officials are urging people to stay indoors as much as possible.

With wildfires burning throughout Alberta and B.C., a special air quality statement was issued Thursday.

Conditions reached an eight out of 10, which is considered high-risk.

"Like anything, any other outdoor experience that you can have just about anywhere, when the smoke rolls in, we're certainly going to see an attendance drop," said Dominic Terry, Heritage Park's communications manager.

Like people riding the Ferris wheel at Heritage Park, the air quality has gone up and down throughout May and June.

Many of the visitors during the week are children on school trips, so Heritage Park pays special attention to the smoke.

It's up to individual schools to determine whether to cancel trips based on air quality, but Heritage Park has its own set of rules.

"We have a little bit of a different policy here. So, at seven, we start to curtail outdoor events. And when the smoke gets to a 10, you'll see all of the doors on the exhibits in the park closed. And that's to protect some of the artifacts that are in there," Terry said.

The smoke can be damaging to people's health, too.

Alberta Health Services says kids, seniors and people with medical conditions are at an elevated risk and should stay inside as much as possible.

There are 76 active wildfires burning in Alberta, 21 of which are considered to be out of control.

There are 2,800 fire personnel from all over the world helping fight the fires in the province.

Some of the smoke we're seeing in Calgary right now is actually from central and northern B.C., where there are 82 active wildfires.