Wildfires are burning. What does the smoke mean for athletes at the Canada Games?
Events are scheduled near communities where wildfires are burning, like Conception Bay South
As parts of the Avalon Peninsula face wildfires and poor air quality conditions as a result, the CEO of the 2025 Canada Games host society says it's an issue organizers are keeping an eye on.
On Wednesday, Karen Sherriffs said organizers have been working closely with the province's emergency operations centre and that conditions haven't hampered competition as of yet.
"At this point, they have assured us that there should be no impact to the 2025 Canada Games," Sherriffs told reporters.
"[It's] no different than any weather event that we would have for the Canada Games. We would work really closely with the national sport organizations, who would make a final call on whether a game should be delayed, cancelled or postponed."
A fire burning in the area of Holyrood is of particular interest, as soccer matches are scheduled to take place in nearby Conception Bay South.
Parts of C.B.S. have been evacuated as a result of the fire.
Sherriffs said air quality has been built into contingency planning for the games, noting that most competition venues have some kind of backup plan in place. Any backup plan would have to meet national sporting standards, she added.
For example, the soccer field in C.B.S. is one of four in use for competition.
"That's part of our planning that we've been doing for months and years now," she said.
Sherriffs said organizers will continue to make decisions with the most up to date information during the games, also accounting for things like weather and high temperatures — which could reach upwards of 30 C in some areas during the first week of competition.
She reiterated that any decisions made are made with athletes' health and safety top of mind.
Soccer association says events should be moved indoors
Speaking with reporters on Wednesday, Premier John Hogan said government officials are also monitoring air quality ahead of the games.
"Air quality is certainly, potentially, going to be an issue," he said. "Health and safety of the athletes is a priority."
Smoky conditions have impacted soccer matches and practices throughout the week, including in communities further from the fires like in Mount Pearl and Paradise.
"It's something we haven't had to deal with in the past from the soccer association … and something that we haven't even had to deal with over our lifespan," said Phil Quann, all-star director for the Mount Pearl Soccer Association.
"I think it could be a very big deal, depending on, kind of, where these fires spread."
Chris Follett, the association's club league director and a firefighter of 15 years, said he believes the idea of moving some outdoor events indoors should be explored.
Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Janice Fitzgerald told CBC News Thursday that it's too early to make that kind of decision.
"I think we have to take things on a day-by-day basis, really," she said. "To go through all of that work to change things around when you don't need to would not necessarily be helpful."
As the games kick off this weekend, Fitzgerald said she believes current conditions are good enough not to impact competition.
"For the most part, I think things are good to go here now. Obviously we're going to be keeping an eye on things," she said.
"The Canada Games host society are keeping an eye on things very closely just to make sure that, you know, the conditions are best for the athletes to be active."
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With files from Jessica Singer