File Photo (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By Stephanie Swensrude

EXTREME HEAT

City of Kamloops preparing strategy for extreme heat events

Jun 14, 2022 | 3:33 PM

KAMLOOPS — Kamloops council discussed the City’s plan for dealing with extreme heat Tuesday (June 14). Seventeen people died in Kamloops as a result of the heat dome in summer 2021 according to the B.C. Coroner’s Service.

Carmin Mazzotta, social, housing, and community development manager for the City, presented the Heat Alert Response Plan to council. The plan outlined two different alert levels — a heat warning and an extreme heat emergency.

The criteria for a heat warning to be issued in the Kamloops region is a “35-18-35” forecast, which means a daytime high of at least 35 C followed by a nighttime low of at least 18 C, for two days in a row. According to the heat response plan, this is projected to happen one-to-three times per summer.

An extreme heat emergency is issued when the above criteria has been met and the forecast daily high will get hotter every day for three or more days. These criteria were met last year during the heat dome in the last week of June.

When Environment and Climate Change Canada issues a heat warning, the City will open indoor and outdoor cooling spaces and promote neighbour health checks.

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The City aims to have the Sandman Centre concourse open, with drinking water available from 12:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. daily during the heat warning period. Outdoor cooling spaces include spray parks at Albert McGowan Park, McDonald Park, Westsyde Centennial Park and Riverside Park when it reopens, and the wading pool at Prince Charles Park. There will also be drinking fountains with potable water in many parks around the city.

For the first time, the City will promote neighbour health checks during heat waves. Residents will be encouraged to check in on neighbours who may be more at risk during the extreme heat due to their age or pre-existing health conditions or who may live in housing without air conditioning. Mazzotta said 98 per cent of those who died during the heat dome died indoors and that it was important to check in on neighbours during extreme heat.

There is also outreach planned for homeless people during heat events. This includes handing out bottled water, coordinating transportation to shelter and otherwise looking for signs of heat distress.

Mazzotta noted that Kamloops is sometimes used as a designated evacuation centre and that City resources may be stretched thin in the event wildfire evacuees are in town during extreme heat and said the City could recruit volunteers to assist in cooling centres.