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Sunset seen from Boundary Road as Environment Canada issues a weather advisory as winds carry smoke from wildfires burning in B.C.'s interior to the province's south coast in Vancouver, BC., August 2, 2017. PNG

Metro Vancouver is draped in a thin blanket of smoke, fire crews lost control of a controlled burn near Clinton, and the city has a lot of bedbugs. Here are five things you need to know.

Air quality advisories still in place in Metro Vancouver

As smoke from wildfires in the Interior drifts out towards the coast, air quality advisories remain in place for the Metro Vancouver region. Its pretty hazy out there. Its early August, but youd be forgiven for thinking it was April 20.

Your best bet during these smoky summer days is to stay indoors near an air conditioner, if you can.

The smoke is wholly unwelcome. It exacerbates breathing problems for those that have them, and its not very good for you. But if theres a bright side, its that the thick layer of smoke has lowered temperatures in Vancouver somewhat, and the sunsets have been spectacularly eerie.

Sunset seen from Boundary Road as Environment Canada issues a weather advisory as winds carry smoke from wildfires burning in B.C.s interior to the provinces south coast in Vancouver, BC., August 2, 2017. PNG

Its like something out of Apocalypse Now.

Controlled burn near Clinton out of control

Speaking of wildfires, a controlled burn near Clinton has residents fuming after fire crews lost control over it.

Eyewitnesses say a four-square-kilometre blaze to the southwest of the massive Elephant Hill fire, between Cache Creek and Clinton, is a case of a controlled burn gone wrong, reports Postmedias Patrick Johnston.

The fire was intentionally started by the B.C. Wildfire Service on Tuesday afternoon, as they sought to burn off fuel that might otherwise be consumed by the Elephant Hill blaze. But a shift in the wind pushed it west, threatening properties.

Fire officials say that the blaze accomplished what it was supposed to, but obviously, having it cross the highway wasnt part of the plan.

Weve been doing this on many fires across the province up until this point, said chief fire information officer Kevin Skrepnek. The fact of the matter is that when fires get to this size, the use of controlled ignitions is one of the best tactics that we have in terms of trying to contain them. Unfortunately, in this instance, the winds just werent in our favour.

Vancouver has a lot of bed bugs

Lets start with the good news: Toronto and Winnipeg have a bigger bed bug problem than Vancouver does.

The bad news is that, on the list of Canadian cities dealing with the critters, thats it. Vancouver has placed third in a nationwide bed bug ranking.

Granted, its not the most scientific ranking: it wasreleased by pest-control provider Orkin Canada, based on the number of residential and commercial bed bug treatments they performed over the last year. One could argue that they do a lot of work in Vancouver because a populous city like Vancouver has a lot of potential clients, relative to most Canadian cities.

But I digress. Other B.C. cities to make the list are Surrey, at 20, and Burnaby, at 21.

Family of boy who biked to New West thanks public

Remember Bruneau Fulton, the 11-year-old who disappeared near the seawall last week, only to turn up in New Westminister hours later after going for a joyride on his bike? His family, whose relief I cant even imagine, would like to thank the public for their help in locating him.

Coming from Vancouver Island, we are so thankful to our friends and family who immediately rushed to the park on bikes and on foot and provided words of support during the search, said Bruneau Fultons mom Danica Rice.

We would like to thank the City of Vancouver and the City of New Westminster police departments for deploying all resources as soon as logistically possible, said Rice in a thank you note the family provided to Postmedia.

And special thanks to Officer (Elmario) Cahambing, New West PD even though you were off duty, you found the needle in the haystack and we are forever grateful.

Just a hunch, but Ill bet Bruneau gets a cell phone for his next birthday.

Vancouver real estate hits million mark

Vancouvers real estate market has reached a milestone, of sorts: the typical price for a home has surpassed the $1 million mark, reports Aleksandra Sagan.

According to The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, the composite benchmark price for all residential properties in the area including detached homes, townhouses and condominiums is $1,019,400, up 8.7 per cent from July 2016.

But wasnt the foreign buyers tax supposed to slow the rising house prices? What happened with that?

It didnt really do much, reports Postmedias Cheryl Chan.

We dont see a great change in the market specifically due to the foreign buyers tax, said president Jill Oudil, adding Julys data is very similar to the 10-year average. We have seen a very active market continue, especially where condos and townhouses are concerned.

hmooney@postmedia.com

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Five Things to Know: Controlled burn out of control, Vancouver filled with smoke and bedbugs - Vancouver Sun