About a half dozen slash piles burning outside city limits were the cause of the heavy smoke that hovered over parts of Prince George on Friday night, Prince George Fire Rescue said.
PGFR launched the search after receiving numerous calls about the problem.
Unable to find anything within the city, they looked further afield and found the piles burning about five kilometres west of the city on the Talka Forest Service Road.
Because it was outside city limits, PGFR could not deal with the problem directly, but it did notify Emergency Management British Columbia, Ministry of Environment, Fraser Fort George Regional District and Northern Health.
According to PGFR, residents experiencing breathing issues had kept University Hospital of Northern B.C. busy during the episode.
For Rhonda Heer, it got so bad she thought her apartment was on fire.
"There was nothing but a heavy cloud of smoke outside with the stench of a building on fire," she said in an e-mail to The Citizen on Sunday afternoon. "I ran downstairs and checked both the front and back entrance. Everything looked normal.
As of Sunday afternoon when she wrote the e-mail, she said the whole building continued to smell as if a major fire occurred in it.
"I am totally angry and suffering because I thought I would have to make a trip to the hospital for I have asthma and there is smoke damage in our building. What kind of permits are being handed out?"
Those responsible were not mentioned in a PGFR press release sent out Saturday morning.
