Purple pain
Air quality alert leads to cancellation of outdoor activities
A rain-free day smack in the middle of July would have been ideal for an outdoor concert, a trip to Kennywood or a dip in a clear-blue pool.
But summertime fun of all kinds came to a skidding halt Friday as wildfire smoke drifting eastward from Canada and Minnesota continued to envelop the region and many other parts of Pennsylvania. The result was another day of hazy skies, acrid odors and warnings that people should not linger long outside.
Throughout the day, the entire commonwealth was under a Code Purple air quality alert, the first time that has ever happened. In a Code Purple alert, all residents, no matter their age or health, are urged to skip long or intense outdoor activities, and children, the elderly and those with respiratory illnesses should avoid going outside altogether.
This led to a raft of cancellations and closings, as most people retreated indoors.
Kennywood amusement park in West Mifflin closed early Thursday as the air quality in the region deteriorated, and was shuttered all day Friday “for the safety of our guests and hosts,” according to a social media post. The park said it was “closely monitoring conditions and will provide an update as air quality returns to safe levels for operations.”
Racing at the Hollywood Casino at the Meadows in North Strabane was called off, and “the decision was made out of an abundance of caution to ensure the well-being of our horses and the human participants.”
A high temperature hovering around 90 degrees would have brought many swimmers to public pools, but they were closed across Allegheny County, as were the Greene County Water Park in Waynesburg, the Mon View Pool in Greensboro, and the pool in Canonsburg’s Town Park.
A concert at South Park by the classic rock band Orleans was called off due to the air quality, though as of Friday afternoon, the Motley Crue concert at the Pavilion at Star Lake outside Burgettstown and the Blackberry Smoke show at Timber Rock Amphitheater in Farmington were still set to proceed. However, on Timber Rock Amphitheater Facebook page, several fans remarked that they wished the Blackberry Smoke concert would be called off due to the smoke, with one fan saying, “I have asthma and will have a hard time sitting outside in this.”
Another event that went ahead as planned Friday was the Picklesburgh festival in downtown Pittsburgh. Organizers said in a statement, “Over the past 11 years, we’ve dealt with plenty of weather challenges. But wildfires and air quality is a new one for us.”
They urged everyone to “use their own judgment” on whether to attend, and gave vendors and staff “flexibility to decide what’s best for them. … We understand some people may choose to sit today out.”
The smoke was expected to clear out after storms forecast for Friday night into Saturday morning moved through the region.