Poor Air Quality Prompts Bears To Cancel Training Camp Session

LAKE FOREST, IL — Fans hoping to get their first glimpse of the Chicago Bears in training camp will have to wait after the team announced it has canceled public access to practice on Wednesday, citing very poor air quality conditions.

Bears players reported to Halas Hall on Tuesday and are set to begin training camp workouts on Wednesday. While fans are typically allowed to view workouts during training camp through a ticketed system, the team said it is moving workouts into the Bears indoor facility for Wednesday.

The team said that Wednesday’s training camp tickets are not transferrable to another day. Wednesday's training camp access was to be a community day when the team welcomed non-profit organizations from around the greater Chicago area.

A line of severe storms is expected to move through Northern Illinois on Wednesday morning with hot and humid conditions expected to remain in the region through Thursday. The National Weather Service is predicting temperatures to be in the mid-to-upper 90s Wednesday and Thursday with heat indexes reaching triple digits.

Smoke from Canadian wildfires has caused air condition indexes to be unhealthy throughout this summer. Chicago’s Air Quality Index is currently at moderate levels but is expected to return to unhealthy levels on Thursday, according to forecasts.