CAPE CORAL, Fla. — Smoke from the Canadian wildfires is blanketing Southwest Florida so bad, you can’t even see Fort Myers from Jaycee Park in Cape Coral.

Dr. Shyam Kapadia, a pulmonology and critical care expert from Lee Health, said he’s never seen an air quality alert for this area.

“When I was driving home this morning. I first looked to see if it was my eyes doing this to me,” he said.

Dr. Kapadia said if you have COPD, asthma, heart conditions, or are pregnant, you should stay inside.

“Generally speaking, if you are of the age of 65 or greater, you’re going to have difficulty breathing, but if you’re healthy, you shouldn’t worry as much,” he said.

Kids should also be careful. Dr. Kapadia said kids with underlying conditions like asthma or children born prematurely, who may have undeveloped lungs, should also stay inside. We know at least one local school (Canterbury School) canceled outdoor activities on Tuesday. 

As we near National Lung Cancer Awareness Month, Dr. Kapadia called this mother’s nature way of telling you to quit smoking.

“The best way to avoid all of this is to make yourself healthier. Don’t do things that are going to have problems with your lungs. This includes smoking, vaping, just changing your overall habits as a person so that when you do have days like these when smoke is going down from Canada that are cognizant of your health,” said Dr. Kapadia.

ABC7’s Most Accurate Meteorologist Team said the smoke should clear out by Wednesday.