Lawrence Schools Outdoor Activities Moved Indoors Due To Unhealthy Air

LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ — A code orange Air Quality Alert remains effective in mercer County through Wednesday due to the smoke from the Canadian wildfires, officials said.

As a precaution, the school district has decided that all outdoor activities, including recess, will be held indoors for Wednesday, Superintendent Ross Kasun told the community.

"In light of the air quality concerns, we have decided to move all outdoor activities, including recess, indoors today. This decision has been made to minimize exposure to potentially harmful air quality due to the ongoing wildfires," Kasun said.

The district said they were committed to maintaining a clean and healthy environment for students and as such, classroom windows will also remain closed.

"Our HEPA grade air purifiers have been running all morning and will continue to operate throughout the day. Additionally, all classroom windows will remain closed to prevent outside air from entering the building," Kasun said.

The Canadian wildfires are causing hazy and smokey conditions with a faint odor of burning.

The state Department of Environmental Protection declared Tuesday and Wednesday an Air Quality Action Day for Particulate Matter.

"A code orange air quality alert means that air pollution concentrations within the region may become unhealthy for sensitive groups," the National Weather Service said.

These sensitive groups include children, people suffering from asthma, heart disease or other lung diseases and the elderly.

"Levels of fine particulates will rise into the unhealthy for sensitive groups category statewide on Wednesday and potentially extend into the evening hours due to wildfire smoke transport from eastern Canadian wildfires," The NJDEP said.

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