A clean air shelter is being opened at Brennan Park Rec Centre to help locals escape the wildfire smoke that has engulfed the Sea to Sky and much of B.C. this week.
The Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy issued another Smoky Skies Bulletin on Thursday due to smoke originating from wildfires in the U.S.
The District said in a release it is following a Vancouver Coastal Health recommendation to provide the clean air shelter with filtered air, which will be located inside the Brennan Park Recreation Centre Stawamus Chief Activity Room.
The room is accessible from the arena entrance on the East side of the building, and open today, Sept. 17 from 5 to 8 p.m., and Friday, Sept. 18 and Saturday, Sep.19 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
“We recognize that there are individuals in our community without the means to create clean air spaces within their own homes and are more vulnerable to the health-related impacts of wildfire smoke,” said Mayor Karen Elliott in a news release. “We want all members of our community to feel like they have a space to find relief while the current air quality conditions persist, particularly those struggling with chronic or respiratory illnesses.”
Visitors to the shelter will be required to maintain a two-metre physical distance at all times and mask wearing will be encouraged.
If the facility is full, patrons will be asked to return later.
The air quality is expected to begin to improve for all regions in B.C. over the weekend.
For more information on how to reduce health risks due to the smoke, and to view the latest air quality health index values go to airhealth.ca.
For the latest Environment Canada forecasts and weather warnings, go to https://weather.gc.ca/marine/forecast_e.html?mapID=02&siteID=06400.
