Poor air quality impacting summer camps across DC region
Poor air quality impacting summer camps across DC region
The poor air quality across the D.C. region is having a big impact on kids too. After all – as FOX 5’s Josh Rosenthal explains in Northwest – the little ones are out of school and typically would be spending a lot of time outside.
WASHINGTON - As if it wasn’t already tough enough keeping kids busy during the summer, imagine doing it with thousands of them – when they have to stay inside.
FOX 5 spoke with officials for both D.C. and Arlington Parks and Recreation. Both departments care for well over 10,000 campers during the summer, and Thursday, none of them went outside.
"We’re working hard to develop contingency plans," said D.C. Parks and Recreation Interim Director Thennie Freeman.
"It can pose a challenge," explained Arlington County Parks and Recreation Division Chief Nakish Jordan. "The safety of our campers and staff is the highest priority."
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The camp officials added that they do have some experience in similar situations, given that they’ve had to move kids inside in past summers; usually due to heat.
"It is new to us," Freeman said of the air quality problems specifically, "but we’re going to have a strategy in place that will ensure that although we’re changing plans, our young people will not feel the impact of it."
Throughout the region, some summer camps closed altogether Thursday, typically because they’re outdoor camps that weren’t able to relocate inside.