Uncommonly cold winter has Vancouver fire halls offering residents free salt
Vancouver is giving away bucket loads of free road salt to residents as an unusually cold and snowy winter torments the traditionally temperate West Coast, turning some streets and sidewalks into impromptu skating rinks.
Jerry Dobrovolny, Vancouver’s general manager for engineering services, says 10 fire halls will have de-icing salt available starting Wednesday for locals who can’t find any at local stores.
So far this winter, the city has gone through about 7,000 tonnes of salt, which is seven times the average amount used in each of the previous two winters.
“I’m confident right now that we’ll have enough salt,” Dobrovolny told reporters outside city hall on Tuesday. “But we’re using an awful lot of it, and we’re using all of our resources to get more.”