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Smoky air cancels some summer camps, forces major changes at others

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Published  July 31, 2025 5:09pm CDT
Weather
FOX 9
Smoky air cancels summer camps

Smoky air cancels summer camps

Unhealthy air from Canadian wildfire smoke has forced changes at a lot of Twin Cities summer camps, creating problems for some parents.

The Brief

    • Unhealthy air forced cancellations at some outdoor kids' camps in St. Paul and changed the plans at others across the Metro.
    • Minneapolis Parks & Rec directors say they know some parents need summer camps for childcare, so they adapt by going indoors and/or reducing outdoor activity intensity.
    • A pulmonary physician told us everybody reacts differently to the smoky air, but nobody is immune to the negative effects. He says the signs that someone needs filtered air quickly are coughing or even just slowing down.

(FOX 9) - The Twin Cities had the third or fourth-worst air quality in the world for most of Thursday.

The unhealthy air forced changes at a lot of summer camps and created problems for some parents.

Smelly summer

Cool but canceled:

St. Paul moved some of its camps indoors but canceled others, which is why fields at the Northwest Como Recreation Center were empty instead of filled with kids in the scheduled multi-sports camp.

Minneapolis Parks & Recreation hasn’t canceled any of its camps with outdoor activities, but biking can be pretty strenuous, so the ride from Logan Park for kids to an outdoor biking camp was a lot shorter today.

The gaggle of bicyclists returned to the park on Thursday afternoon with a lot more energy than originally planned.

Instead of a long ride along the Mississippi River, they stopped at Boom Island Park for a relaxing afternoon of magnet fishing.

Parks for parents

Keeping up care:

About 1,200 kids spend their summer days at Minneapolis Park & Rec camps, and organizers know how important it is to keep going even when it’s hard to see downtown from Boom Island.

"I think a lot of families use this as a childcare in the summertime, and so we're doing our very best to modify rather than cancel so that the young people can still have all the opportunities, all the fun that they want in the summer and then families can have the service that we've been providing," said Steve Thompson, a Parks & Rec director.

YMCA camps also have had to move a lot of activities indoors this week, sometimes for entire days.

"They're still going to have a great time, I promise, right?" said Michel Tigan, a senior vice president for YMCA of the North. "They're in gyms, they're swimming, they are playing, but we need the filters and the air conditioning systems to help really remove that particulate out to keep kids safe."

But it's finally nice

What's the risk?:

Dr. Andrew Stiehm told us not everybody has the same vulnerability to the smoky air, and a lot of people will insist on going out after staying indoors because of heat or storms for much of the summer.

"But [the air is] a big problem," said the Allina Health pulmonary physician. "You get cooped in and you want to get out in the exercise because the weather is great today."

He warns that kids are not immune to the impact, even if they feel invincible.

So it’s especially important right now for parents to monitor kids’ outdoor activities.

"Watch," said Dr. Stiehm. "If you notice they're not running as fast or they're coughing some. It may be time to have them start breathing more shallowly, have them rest on the sidelines or rest on a bench, or even just come indoors with the window shut and let them clean out a little bit."

Future plans

What's next:

Parents with kids in St. Paul camps should get notified about Friday soon if not already, but the air quality warning lasts through Saturday afternoon, so there’s at least a chance of more cancellations.

At Logan Park, they’re good to go, but at a slower pace.

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