ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Many people remember the 2023 Canadian wildfires and the effect the smoke had on the region. An expert has some good news for people in Western New York about the wildfires downstate. Erica Smithwith, director of earth and environmental sciences at Penn State, says that since those wildfires are to the east of Rochester, and winds blow from the east to the west, there’s very little risk of people in the area seeing any smoke.