Smoky skies in Kamloops Saturday

All across the city, people were looking for ways to get out of the smoke. The Family Stick & Puck ice time at Brock arena proved to be a popular choice on Saturday morning.

“We were full at 10:30 this morning at Stick & Puck and the program doesn’t start until 11:00 am,” Linda Stride, Recreation, Health & Wellness Supervisor with the City of Kamloops told CFJC Today. “There are a lot of people coming out, and even asking for more programs, so that’s something we’ll be looking at next week.”

Stride said her staff look at Environment Canada’s Air Quality Health Index before making decisions on opening or closing facilities throughout Kamloops.

“If it’s a 10 or 10+, we’ve been cancelling our… city -run programs, as well as closing Brock pool,” Stride explained.

Environment Canada issued a Special Smoky Skies Bulletin for the South Thomson region just before noon on Saturday, warning those in the area conditions aren’t likely to improve until the weather pattern across BC changes.

The Kamloops Broncos postponed their BC Football Conference game against the Westshore Rebels this afternoon because of the smoke, but some events scheduled for Sunday will continue as planned.

“It takes six months to put [Overlanders Day] together, so we can’t just push it back a day,” NSBIA Executive Director Jeremy Heighton said.

Heighton and Patti Phillips from the North Shore Business Improvement Association say Overlanders Day will go ahead as planned tomorrow, but there could be some changes to activities planned.

“We may, tomorrow morning, look at if we can do some of the children’s activities like the three-legged race, stuff like that, just because of the smoke conditions,” Heighton said.

According to Environment Canada’s forecast for the week, they’re predicting a break from the smoke come Monday, but much like the views around the city, it’s still unclear.

by Adam Donnelly

Smoky skies in Kamloops Saturday

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