Wild weather, smoky skies put summer camps at risk
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As wildfires rage in Canada, the smoke carried down from northerly winds are choking out some summer camp programs in Minnesota.
“This summer, between the storms and the derechos and the wildfire smoke, it's like you get one or the other,” said Julian McFaul, artistic director and camp coordinator of the Minneapolis day camp Adventures in Cardboard. “For the first time, I wish we had a 30,000 square foot warehouse somewhere that we could just retreat to."
McFaul said trying to balance the experience of an outdoor summer camp while keeping kids safe is difficult while smoke and storms threaten programming. And although they do have facilities they can fall back on when danger rolls in, they’re not owned by the camp and rely on arrangements made ahead of time.
“We're never 100 percent sure, and what we don’t want to do is cancel camp and not provide that day care option that parents need,” McFaul said. “And yet, sometimes we’re forced to do that.”
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