Smoke chokes out activities in Winnipeg, prompts warnings from health organizations

Smoke from wildfires ravaging northern Manitoba has impacted thousands of people in Winnipeg as poor air quality has forced the cancellation of numerous activities and performances.

Some 10,000 students, staff, elders and knowledge keepers were supposed to be at a powwow Thursday afternoon but the Winnipeg School Division's largest annual event — a day honouring Indigenous cultures, languages, teachings, and student achievement — was postponed in what superintendent Matt Henderson said was a "tough decision."

"It's always a magical day in the division and everybody looks forward to it," he said, but the division "realized that it wouldn't be safe for not only the dancers, but for kids and elders to be out there for significant amounts of time."

Shakespeare in the Ruins cancelled its Thursday opening of Macbeth — an outdoor performance at the Trappist Monastery Heritage Provincial Park in St. Norbert — for the same reason.

The company also had to cancel a performances Friday morning for school children.

"That's about $15,000 ... it's gone," said the company's artistic director, Rodrigo Beilfuss. "We're going to have to double our efforts to fundraise and keep going." 

Air quality warnings and a grey haze have hovered over the Winnipeg region for much of the week, prompting school divisions to cancel outdoor recess and field trips.

"At recess, kids like to run around, and that means their cardiovascular systems are going to be working harder than they normally would. And so we ask schools to just have indoor recess," Henderson said.

"We have excellent ventilation in the Winnipeg School Division, particularly since COVID. So we're putting those systems to the test."

School staff are being asked to keep a close eye on kids who might have respiratory issues, he added.

"This is the reality that we're faced with. This is new territory," Henderson said. "It's only the beginning of June and we're already experiencing this."

The 10-point air quality health index has soared to the "high risk" to "very high risk" (eight to 10+) range this week. The rating is impacted by wind direction and can change quickly.

On Wednesday, for example, the index was a three (low risk) at 9 a.m., but 10+ by 10 a.m. 

That day, students in the Louis Riel School Division were supposed to attend Valour FC and Goldeyes games, but those plans were promptly scrapped.

And on Friday, the Manitoba High School Athletic Association cancelled the provincial track and field provincial championships. The index was again 10+ in the morning.

The event, scheduled for June 5-7, brings together more than 1,000 of the province's best high school athletes at the University of Manitoba. 

"This seems to be the first time we've actually cancelled the provincial outright due to weather especially track and field," said MHSAA executive director Chad Falk. "I don't think we've ever done it with smoke before," 

Smoke expected to clear

According to Environment Canada, which issued an air quality warning for nearly the entire province on Friday morning, the smoke should move out of the Red River Valley and Interlake region later in the day and drop the air quality index to a three.

Poor conditions, however, will continue in the north, closer to the fires.

But that reprieve from the smoke was a welcome sign for Beilfuss, who said all signs pointed to Shakespeare in the Ruins' Friday night show being able to go forward.

"There are things we can only do here, you can't do them in a regular theatre," he said. "That's why it's a special experience." 

As for WSD's powwow, planning is also underway to hold a smaller version of the event indoors at the University of Winnipeg sometime in the next couple of weeks, which will be just for the grads, rather than all students in the division, said Henderson.

Health Canada warns that wildfire smoke remains dangerous at any level. 

That's because it contains fine particulate matter that can penetrate deep into the lungs and cause inflammation and irritation, according to the agency.

"There's no known safe level of exposure for some of these pollutants. This means that smoke can impact your health even at very low levels," the agency says.

The air quality Manitoba is seeing is dangerous for even the healthiest person, the Manitoba Lung Association says.

"You don't necessarily know what's in that smoke that's travelling, whether it's trees burning, standing structures — you just don't know what kind of chemicals or particulate matter [it contains]," said spokesperson Adam Anderson.

The Canadian Ophthalmological Society is urging people to also take care of their eyes, which can be affected by smoke even if a person is far from an actual blaze.

Those near the front lines could get airborne particles in their eyes that need to be flushed out with sterile solution, or may need to see an eye professional to get the object removed without damaging the cornea, said society spokesperson David Plemel, an eye surgeon in London, Ont., and an assistant professor of ophthalmology at Western University.

Even people hundreds or thousands of kilometres away can experience irritation from allergens and the smoke, he said.

People who experience red, irritated or burning eyes should consider staying indoors and using air purifiers, said Plemel.

Some events, performances in Winnipeg cancelled because of poor air quality

22 days ago

Duration 1:54

Smoke from wildfires ravaging northern Manitoba has impacted thousands of people in Winnipeg, as poor air quality has forced the cancellation of numerous activities and performances.

Find the latest wildfire information:

• Canadian wildfire map.
• Province of Manitoba fire bulletins.
• CBC's wildfire tracker.