Thirteen new misting stations being built by city staff won’t be ready for the current heat wave but are expected to be on Victoria streets in the next few weeks.
One of the stations, aluminum towers about six feet tall with buttons for people to activate mist, will be available for each of the city’s neighbourhoods to provide relief on hot days, said emergency program co-ordinator Tanya Seal-Jones.
The stations also have taps for filling water bottles.
It’s an improvement on last year’s stations, which were made with plastic piping connected to fire hydrants, Seal-Jones said. “These new ones, they’re sturdy and robust,” she said. “They’ll be bolted to the ground all summer.”
She said the city looked at what other communities had been doing for misting equipment and came up with a model similar to the one used in Vancouver.
The stations were funded in part with a $60,000 grant from the Union of B.C. Municipalities.
With more hot weather on the way, Seal-Jones encouraged residents to look in on seniors and others who can be especially vulnerable to the effects of heat.
Medications can be a factor in adverse reactions, she said, adding those who stay inside all day and don’t realize they are overheating are also at risk.
“That’s why we’re really encouraging and trying to promote that engagement with those populations that might be isolated and need to be checked on,” Seal-Jones said.
In response to the increase in extreme-heat events in recent years, the University of Victoria and Capital Regional District have teamed up on a research project to examine the needs of those affected most by such conditions.
The project, called Hot Topic — Addressing Vulnerability to Extreme Heat Exposure in the CRD, aims to use an online survey to determine how heat concerns can be best addressed for groups like isolated seniors, those who are pregnant and people with disabilities. About 150 people have responded so far to the online survey at redcap.link/ahottopiccrd.
Several more days of heat are on the way in Greater Victoria and elsewhere on Vancouver Island, which means forests will continue to dry out, increasing the risk of wildfire.
The lone wildfire burning on the Island over the weekend — less than a hectare near Port Renfrew — was declared out by Monday, but the ongoing hot weather and overall conditions in the woods have the Coastal Fire Centre looking closely at indicators that could lead to a campfire ban.
The heat will likely remain above seasonal levels until about mid-week, but it’s expected to stay sunny until just about the end of the long weekend, said fire-information officer Julia Caranci.
“We’ve virtually had no rain for the last week and a half or so.”
The fire centre is also watching recent “unusual” spikes in temperature, and advising everyone to be careful when enjoying the outdoors, she said.
“Regardless of whether or not we have any prohibitions in place, we want people to be responsible with any kind of open fire.”
Environment Canada meteorologist Trevor Smith said 60 temperature records were set across B.C. on Sunday, including in Comox, in Campbell River and at Gonzales in Victoria.
• In Comox, the temperature hit 31.9 C, breaking the overall May record of 31.7 from May 29, 1983
• Campbell River was at 33.0, breaking the May 14 record of 27.0 from 2016
• Gonzales in Victoria was at 30.7, breaking the May 14 record of 27.8 from 1912.
Average daily high temperatures for this time of year are about 17 C, Smith said.
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