Wildfires south of the border are responsible for “much” of the smoke that has prompted an air quality warning in one region of B.C., according to officials. The provincial wildfire service said an increase in local, lightning-caused fire starts was only partially responsible for poor air quality in parts of the southeast fire centre—including where parts of the Kootenays border the United States. “As wildfire activity increases, so has smoke across many areas of the region. Much of this smoke is originating from fires south of the Canada-U.S. border and will have varying impacts over the coming days,” an update Saturday evening said. …The issue of smoke travelling across the border caused a political firestorm in recent days, in part prompted by a social media post from U.S. President Donald Trump. …Just days before Trump’s post, 56-year-old Canadian pilot Nicholas Dale was killed while fighting a forest fire in Colorado.