(WXYZ) — An air quality advisory issued this week remains in effect through Thursday.
Health Department officials say the poor quality air is a result of wildfires in Canada. Exposure to the polluted air can cause minor issues like eye and respiratory tract irritation to more serious health effects like exacerbation of asthma and heart failure. It can also cause premature death. Seniors, those who are pregnant, children, and people with preexisting conditions may be more likely to get sick if they breathe in wildfire smoke.
As a result, health departments are urging people to limit their time outside as much as possible. For those whose work requires them to be outdoors, this is a challenge.
In a neighborhood in Novi, the Stump Demolition and Land Clearing team worked to clear a path of trees Wednesday where a new home will soon be built.
"We do a lot of work for builders, developers, real estate agents. We handle everything from the small homeowner who wants just a little bit of brush cleared to 30 acres for a new development," said Nick Hawes with Stump Demolition and Land Clearing.
Hawes says when he started the company five years ago, he quickly learned that battling the elements is just something that comes with the job.
"Winter months can present different challenges than summer months. The heat is hard in certain ways but the winter has its own problems," said Hawes.
Hawes says this isn't the first time, they've had to deal with poor air quality while working.
"During the dry season in July and August, we deal with pretty poor quality air. The ground is so dry and our mulch machines spit up a lot of dust. What happens is that dust kind of simulates the air quality," Hawes explained.
Hawes says because canceling an entire day's work is not really an option, they put additional safety measures in place on days where conditions are rough like allowing workers more rest periods, using dust control machines when they can, and staying in their vehicles as much as possible.
"Safety is our top priority so one of the things we do is we check our air filters in the truck and the equipment too because when it's dry like this, especially with the fires going on, you have to be careful to not let dust spill into your machines," said Hawes. "That can create more fire hazards."
While not everyone has the option of moving indoors, others are taking advantage.
At the Jewish Community Center in West Bloomfield, the swings were still and the playground was quiet.
"We have about 200 campers each day and we do different activities from instructional swim to archery to canoeing to arts and crafts," said Melissa Mesa with the Jewish Community Center.
Mesa is the director of programming for theJCC Day Camp which has been providing enrichment for community youth for 94 years.
Mesa says while most of their time is typically spent outdoors, Wednesday they moved the fun inside to avoid exposure to the poor air quality.
"Normally for us, it's the heat index. Especially for us in Michigan, it can change really drastically in the day," said Sam Pellett who is the director of communication for the JCC Day Camp. "That's what our campers are used to: coming in because it's too hot but usually we can still sit in shaded areas sometimes or pivot in different ways and not have to be completely indoors."
The staff at JCC say they quickly changed around activities after the initial air quality advisory went out Tuesday.
"We were supposed to do outdoor cooking which is obviously not safe today but we have really fun activities. We got an indoor blow-up Gaga pit that we put together. We have bounce houses that we can also put up inside," said Mesa.
The staff said their top priority was preventing harmful exposure to staff and campers.
"We have plenty of kids that have medical conditions where they’re also in a specialized group. We run a full-capacity special needs camp and then like Melissa said everyone is impacted so it’s hard to let them even be out there for a few minutes of the day," said Pellett.
The staff at JCC day camp say as the advisory continues, they’ll likely be indoors for the next few days. Health officials are advising people who have to be outside to consider wearing a mask or facial covering to limit exposure.
