Smoke driving people indoors
Daycare keeping kids inside; Avens delays trip to Prelude Lake
John McFadden
Northern News Services
Published Friday, July 11, 2014
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Heavy smoke that continues to hang in the air has prompted a daycare centre to limit the time it allows children to play outside.
Marine Voskanyan, executive director at the Yellowknife Daycare Association on 51 Street, said staff have been keeping youngsters inside the facility, except for about an hour to an hour-and-a-half each day.
"We normally have them playing outside for about four hours a day," she said.
"But since the heavy smoke started about three weeks ago, we made the decision to limit their outdoor activity."
Voskanyan said that has left their children with a lot of extra energy.
"It has been a challenge for our staff to find activities that the children can do inside," she said.
"We had them playing indoor soccer, but there's only so much we can do inside."
The daycare has about 45 children between the ages of one and five currently attending.
Voskanyan said they normally spend almost half their day out in the playground.
"We have received notes from some parents saying their kids have been coughing," she said.
"That is part of the reason we've decided to keep them indoors and the parents agree with that decision."
Voskanyan said it has been frustrating and overwhelming for kids, parents and staff.
"We have to limit the kids outdoor time in the winter because of the cold." said Voskanyan.
"Everyone waits for the summer months when we can send kids outside for a longer period of time, but the smoke has made that impossible."
She said staff monitor the smoke on a day-to-day basis and a decision is made in the morning whether to limit outdoor activity for the rest of the day.
That's also how they are addressing the smoke at the Kids Corner Childcare in Niven Lake.
"We check to see if there's a breeze in the morning and if there is and it doesn't seem too smoky, then we let them play outside." said Kathryn Watkins, director of the facility.
She said there have only been two or three days since that they have kept children inside.
"It hasn't been a huge problem," she said. "We haven't heard from any parents who are concerned about having their children spend time outside," she said.
"We keep our windows open, so they are going to be exposed to some smoke whether they are outside or not."
At the Avens Centre for Seniors, one annual summer trip has been delayed because of the smoke.
"We normally take residents to Prelude Lake for a boat trip, but we've put that on hold until the smoke clears," said Jeff Renaud, CEO at Avens.
He said staff have told residents the air quality is not good and they should limit their outdoor activity.
"We would never force our residents to stay inside, but we've told them it may not be healthy for them to be outside when it's this smoky," said Renaud.
"We've put on a few more indoor activities for them and that will continue until the air quality improves."
Renaud said some outdoor activities, such as gardening, are still taking place on the days the smoke isn't too thick.
Meanwhile, Environment Canada issued a special weather statement for Yellowknife and the southern NWT on Wednesday morning.
It said smoke from forest fires combined with hot temperatures will continue to result in the reduction of air quality.
The agency said some relief would come this week in the form of cooler weather and possible showers.
Environment Canada warned that children, the elderly and people with respiratory problems should take care.
The statement said people in good health should consider reducing strenuous outdoor activities for the time being.
