Smoky skies may prevent kids from playing outside as Thunder Bay summer programs begin

School is out in Thunder Bay, Ont., which means the city's annual summer programs and camps are officially in. But continuous smoke from forest fires may actually force participants to do activities inside.

Alexa Fares is the program supervisor of customer services and programs with the City of Thunder Bay. She said all summer camps and programs have access to some form of indoor spaces. On days when the air quality is poor, Fares said staff would keep kids inside as much as possible.

"I would say [staff and participants would be] taking breaks a lot to go inside on the days that maybe aren't as bad, making sure [they're] taking water breaks, increasing hydration, limiting any heavy exercise or strenuous outdoor activity or a lot of running," said Fares.

Program supervisor for children, youth and junior inclusion services for the City of Thunder Bay, Sarah Smart, said some facilities don't have air conditioning, although the city tries to use community centres and schools that offer cooling units.

"Some [facilities don't have air conditioning so] we would still be trying to use inside spaces as much as possible," said Smart. "And if fans can be used to help, we would definitely look at adding those."

Fares added that her department gets alerts from the city's health and safety department on the air quality conditions, which are shared with program leaders.

As for supplies, Fares said all programs will have access to some sort of water supply for children and staff on smoky days.

"We all make sure we are always taking lots of water breaks," said Fares. "We all have access to either water stands and stuff like that or indoor water fountains … so we all have plenty of access to water and masks as well."

City taking extra precautions for at-risk participants

Across the country, summer camp organizers are keeping the smoke in mind as they begin summer programs. Many are implementing safety measures to keep participants safe.

In Thunder Bay, Fares said all program staff are trained on how to handle situations where children experience side effects from the smoke. They also receive first aid refresher courses throughout their training the week before summer camps begin.

For children with respiratory illnesses or who are more vulnerable to smoke illness, Fares said staff would have a conversation with the child's parents about their well-being.

"We would definitely just go with the same sort of procedure as anything really, but we would obviously keep it more closely monitored for those children that required it," said Fares. 

"[We would maybe switch] up whatever their programming is for that day to make sure that they're able to stay inside," said Fares. "And being mindful of any of their frequent symptoms and anything that works for them personally, because obviously it varies from child to child."

Smart said the city offers the Junior Inclusion Services (JIS) program to support kids and youth with disabilities and medical needs attending its recreation programs. She said, depending on the severity of the illness, children can get support and accommodations from a staff person through JIS.

"We really want to look at it [child by child] just to make sure that each child kind of gets what they need in our program, and that we can try and help make whatever accommodations that they need happen," she said.

Smart added that the smoke is something that the city worries about, as with any widespread environmental hazard that could affect participants.

"It's making sure that we're making the best kinds of decisions that we can for our kids and our staff," she said.