Pools, summer activities shut down with air quality concerns in southcentral Wisconsin

SUN PRAIRIE, Wis. (WMTV) – Experiencing some of the worst air quality in the world, residents around southcentral Wisconsin are being advised to stay indoors.

City officials in Sun Prairie closed the outdoor pool at the Family Aquatic Center Tuesday and canceled all other outdoor programs like soccer and tennis. In an “unprecedented” move for the department, air quality concerns also drove an evening concert to be canceled, according to parks, recreation and forestry director Kristin Grissom.

“It is a choice of the public to come out and participate. But at the end of the day, it’s not a choice for our staff, if we’re requiring them to be out there and lifeguarding. There’s no reprieve in an 8-hour shift when you’re working outside,” she said.

With haze stretching across the region, Beloit city officials have also announced closures:

• Krueger Pool: closed Tuesday and Wednesday
• Beloit Tide Swim Team at Krueger Pool: canceled Wednesday and Thursday mornings
• Vernon Park Playground Program: canceled Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons
• Wacky Wednesday at Leeson Park

By late Tuesday afternoon, the U.S. air quality index reached 198 in Madison, nearing the top of the “unhealthy” category. AirNow.gov describes the category: “Some members of the general public may experience health effects; members of sensitive groups may experience more serious health effects.”

“This has reached its worst impact on our area yet,” Morgan Finke, communications coordinator at Public Health Madison Dane County, said, as a result of the wildfires in Canada.

She says younger kids, older adults and people with asthma or COPD are in the sensitive group, but that’s not everyone who could be affected. “When it’s at this level it can affect just about anybody, so we’re really encouraging everyone to limit the amount of time you spend outside during this alert,” she said. “Especially any rigorous activity outside, push it back until this alert expires. That would be definitely encouraged.”

Finke says N-95 masks can help reduce exposures, adding, “It would still be preferable to reschedule or to consider moving activities indoors.”

If spending time outdoors, she says to watch out for symptoms including coughing, sore throat, eye irritation or difficulty breathing.

Sun Prairie officials will be assessing Wednesday morning whether to open or keep closed outdoor city facilities and programs, according to Grissom.

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