People in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., face another day of poor air quality

People in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., face another day of poor air quality — but what if you can't go inside?

With recommendations to stay indoors, homelessness advocate fears for well-being of people on the street

Poor air quality levels from the wildfires in northwestern Ontario have continued into Thursday in many parts of the northeastern Ontario — including in Sault Ste. Marie, where the city remains under an orange-level warning from Environment Canada and retains the worst ranking for air quality given out by the provincial government.

On Wednesday, the city shut down several of its outdoor facilities and cancelled a number of sporting events and other activities.

With conditions much the same as Wednesday, there’s no official word yet about whether the outdoor pools, splash pads and sports complexes that were shuttered yesterday will reopen today.

People in the area have been taking to social media to voice their concerns over ash remnants that blanketed their vehicles overnight on Wednesday — something many noted as having never witnessed before.

Among them were Kristen Jackpine and Terry Amoia of Blind River who were visiting the Sault as part of a summer road trip.

“I was shocked,” Jackpine said. “Our car and windows were completely covered in ash. The ash was also floating in the air.”

While the conditions aren’t putting a complete halt on their plans to visit some of Ontario’s provincial parks, Amoia said the air quality has made things slightly more challenging.

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“I’m older, and I’ve got a little bit of COPD,” she said. “The ash has been hitting the back of my throat and in my eyes. I worry about other people too.”

“But it won’t really stop us from our plans, we’ll maybe just spend a little less time outside.”

Air quality ‘scary’ for the unhoused, advocate says

Spending more time indoors has been especially recommended for seniors, young children and people who live with respiratory conditions.

But according to Connie Raynor-Elliott — the founder and lead of Save Our Young Adults (SOYA) in the Sault — that’s not an option for everyone.

She works with dozens of people struggling with homelessness and addiction and worries for their health at a time like this.

“It’s getting scary,” she said.

“They need to be inside somewhere. We have homeless people who have breathing complications, so I’m trying to get a hold of masks for them.”

Raynor-Elliott told CBC that people will often go to local libraries, the mall or the HART Hub to get relief from the weather.

But she noted it’s not an option for all of them.

“The problem is a lot of our homeless people are shunned from the community,” she said. “If they need to cool down at a cooling station and go to a pool, well the city shut down all the pools because they’re outside.”

“This is kind of new for our city. I’m sure all the [social] services are going to be figuring it out, because if [the wildfires] are something that’s going to continue, we need to have a game plan for our people who are unhoused.”

Meanwhile, volunteers with Rotaryfest in the Sault say the festivities are still moving forward with regular preparations ahead of Thursday's opening.

Arguably the city’s biggest event of the summer, Rotaryfest treats Saultites to three days of live music, games, carnival rides and food in Clergue Park.

Their team says it will be monitoring air quality conditions daily to determine if any programming will be affected.

The public can check the province's forest fire info map for more details about active wildfires, and look at the dynamic map of wildfire smoke particulate matter from Environment Canada.

A College of Sports Media grad, Alex joined CBC News in his hometown of Sault Ste. Marie in 2025. When he's not reporting, you'll find Alex cheering on the Canucks, playing piano and watching Schitt's Creek for the millionth time.