Demand for respirators, sprinklers on the rise in Manitoba as wildfires worsen air quality

Zubina Ahmed · CBC News

· Posted: May 27, 2025 9:40 PM EDT | Last Updated: May 28

As wildfires are ravaging the province, they are besides impacting the aerial Manitobans breathe, and some are looking for ways to support themselves.

Ian Birchall, a income typical astatine ABC Fire and Safety Equipment Ltd., which sells fire, information and archetypal assistance products successful Winnipeg, says request for their respirators has increased significantly since the wildfire play began successful earnest earlier this month.

"We've sold beauteous overmuch retired of each of our wildland [fire] instrumentality conscionable owed to the quality of the fires that are going connected present successful Manitoba. It's a precise scary concern for our residents successful Manitoba," helium said.

Items similar respirators person been successful precocious demand, helium said.

"Especially with the fume that is going connected successful the state erstwhile they are successful the smoke-filled areas similar Lac du Bonnet oregon up northbound successful Lynn Lake, they are utilizing that rather a spot close now," says Birchall showing a scope of masks successful his shop.

Birchall says radical are not conscionable disquieted astir their health, but besides their property, starring to accrued request for occurrence suppression equipment, sprinkler kits and hoses. 

"We person been seeing a batch of compartment owners coming and purchasing the Wildfire Protection Kit, which is different usually utilized by occurrence departments," helium said.

That kit is a sprinkler system, with equipment that tin beryllium mounted connected a cabin's gable and eavestrough, to provide "360 degrees of extortion astir your property," helium said.

"Usually each twelvemonth the residents volition banal up connected PPE [personal protective equipment] for wildland fires for protection," said Birchall. 

"This twelvemonth has evidently been an objection due to the fact that it's been precise adust successful the province. So we person noticed a important summation successful our income with this equipment."

Birchall says he's been getting a batch of inquiries from compartment owners from the Bird River area, wherever a inactive out-of-control wildfire present covers much than 124,000 hectares, according to the province's latest occurrence report.

The occurrence near Lac du Bonnet, meanwhile, is present considered nether control. That occurrence became deadly earlier this month, taking the lives of a mates who reportedly got trapped astatine a household home.

Smoke tin person semipermanent effects

Smoke from wildfires is causing mediocre aerial prime and reduced visibility successful parts of Manitoba, prompting aerial prime alerts from Environment and Climate Change Canada. 

Environment Canada meteorologist Justin Shelley says a batch of the bluish information of the state is under peculiar aerial prime authorities statements, while an country successful the southeast, from the Ontario borderline to Lake Winnipeg, is under air prime warnings.

Shelly urges radical to cheque the aerial prime scale earlier heading outdoors.

On Tuesday, the scale was 4 successful Winnipeg, indicating mean risk, portion it was 10+ successful Flin Flon, indicating precise precocious risk.

When the aerial prime is astatine its worst, people should instrumentality precautions and limit outdoor exposure, said Shelly. 

"Consider reducing oregon rescheduling immoderate strenuous outdoor activities, particularly if you are experiencing symptoms similar a cough oregon dizziness oregon nausea," helium said.

"And you besides privation to show those who mightiness beryllium much astatine risk, truthful particularly possibly aged people or … younger people."

Warm and adust conditions are expected done this week, which volition origin fume to linger, Shelly said.

WATCH | Smoke raises wellness concerns successful Manitoba:

Health experts besides pass wildfire fume tin make wellness risks in some the abbreviated and agelong term. Christopher Pascoe, an subordinate prof successful the University of Manitoba's physiology and pathophysiology department, says short-term effects whitethorn include breathlessness. 

"So trouble breathing, catching your enactment and you whitethorn announcement that you cough more, person much mucus. If you're idiosyncratic who has lung disease, asthma, COPD [chronic obstructive pulmonary disease], you whitethorn find that you request to usage your medicine much and that it's not arsenic effective."

He adds radical often study needing to spell to the infirmary much often to woody with conditions similar asthma oregon COPD during periods of mediocre aerial quality.

The imaginable semipermanent effects of mediocre aerial prime tin see worsening of conditions and lung disease, helium said.

"That semipermanent vulnerability is related to these wellness complications similar asthma, exacerbation of different diseases," said Pascoe.

"The biggest pollutant that we interest astir astatine this constituent is thing called particulate matter," helium said. "That's the fume oregon the ash successful the air. And truthful erstwhile you spot extracurricular … it's hazy, you benignant of privation to enactment inside, being a well-ventilated space."

When it comes to protection, he says for radical who person allergies or asthma, oregon are prone to wellness risks, "the champion happening to bash is bounds your clip extracurricular and wearing a well-fitting N95 disguise to bounds your exposure."