Wildfire smoke forces 100s of children inside after Winnipeg outdoor event cancelled
Environment Canada issues air quality warnings for most of Manitoba
An outdoor summer event for hundreds of children in Winnipeg has been cancelled over health concerns about heavy wildfire smoke that's causing poor air quality in much of the province.
Environment and Climate Change Canada issued air quality warnings on Thursday morning for most of Manitoba, advising people to limit their time outdoors and avoid strenuous activities.
Over 600 children were scheduled to participate in an outdoor field games event in Winnipeg that was organized in a partnership between BGC Winnipeg (formerly Boys and Girls Clubs of Winnipeg) and the Canadian Tire Jumpstart charity.
Because of the poor air quality in Winnipeg, the annual event was cancelled for the first time, organizers said.
"We know that there's going to be lots and lots of disappointed people. The kids, they look forward to [it].… Making the decision is always hard," said Michelle Schmidt, a director of programming at BGC Winnipeg.
"But at the end of the day, we have to think about safety first and people's health first."
The air quality health index in Winnipeg climbed to the "very high risk" 10+ level on Thursday morning, Environment Canada said. It is forecast to recede to 7 or "high risk" by Thursday evening.
During heavy smoke conditions, everyone's health is at risk, regardless of age or health status, Environment Canada said, but children, seniors and pregnant people are likely to be more impacted.
BGC Winnipeg has been monitoring the alerts posted by the federal agency throughout the summer and established guidelines for when events can no longer be held outdoors to avoid putting people's health at risk.
With Thursday's event cancelled, children will instead participate in indoor activities at the schools they have been attending as part of the CSI summer learning enrichment program.
"We are lucky. We have facilities. We can still be inside, it just makes things a little more [of] a challenge," Schmidt said. "Kids are a little bit more antsy because of being kind of cooped up."
Wildfire smoke has prompted the cancellation of at least two other outdoor events at the organization this week alone, Schmidt said. This summer, upward of 10 outdoor events have been cancelled due to poor air quality, she said.
"I don't recall it being [like] this … not this many days in a row in a short period of time," Schmidt said.
Environment Canada advises people under an air quality warning to keep windows and doors closed as much as possible.
If you need to spend time outdoors, the federal agency recommends limiting it as much as possible, but even with reduced exposure, there can still be a risk to health, the federal agency said.
People might experience eye, nose and throat irritation, as well as headaches. Environment Canada says people might also have more serious but less common symptoms, including wheezing, chest pains or severe cough.
Clean air sites
The City of Winnipeg has partnered with the Bronx Park, East Elmwood, Luxton and Riverview community centres to give people a place where they can get a reprieve from the wildfire smoke polluting the air.
With a common area big enough to set up chairs or benches where people can stay indoors, the venues are operating as air quality relief sites, said Lora Meseman, the executive director of the General Council of Winnipeg Community Centres.
A spokesperson for the city said clean air spaces were open for the first time in August 2024, but this is the first full season where they will be open.
The centres don't track how many people have used the space for air quality reasons because staff don't ask people why they are coming , Meseman said.
"We just make sure that they're safe and that there's space for them to relax," she said.
But with the city blanketed with wildfire smoke, Meseman said more programming at the city's community centres is running indoors rather than outside, and wading pool areas are seeing a drop in the number of users because of the poor air quality.
Gabriella Kalapos, executive director at the Clean Air Partnership, said cities need to be reactive about the impacts of wildfire smoke and they should offer a space for people to breathe in clean air, similar to the response some cities have taken in recent years to adapt better to heat events.
But "it's just the start of what needs to happen in order for us to collectively address this challenge of climate change impacts moving forward," Kalapos, who is based in Ontario, said.
The alternatives used to protect people from wildfire smoke, like using air conditioning in close spaces, Kalapos said, should take into account potential fossil fuel production — linked to how some electricity systems provide power — as that might contribute to more of these smoke events in the long-term.
"We have to watch these vicious circles," she said.
With files from Erin Brohman, Santiago Arias Orozco and Cameron MacLean