Saskatchewan's first heat wave of the season triggers emergency response
Saskatoon's director of emergency management failed to find any previous instance when the city needed to roll out its extreme heat emergency response so early in the year.
"I was looking at that and I couldn't find an activation this early," Pamela Goulden-McLeod told journalists outside city hall as she announced the city was implementing its Level 2 response on Tuesday.
Temperatures are expected to soar into the mid-30s C Thursday and Friday, but Goulden-McLeod said the lows at night are even more concerning, since the temperature is expected to remain about 20 C.
People living in condos and apartments without air conditioning — particularly older people with health conditions — may need help in the heat, she said.
"So we're really asking the residents of Saskatoon to reach out. If you have relatives or friends or neighbours who are living in those kind of conditions, reach out and check on them. Let them know about places they can go to cool off."
The city helps operate about 10 cooling centres in Saskatoon, including the drop-in centre in Riversdale on Avenue C and Station 20 West in Pleasant Hill.
City officials have also reached out to the 40 or 50 agencies that interact with the homeless population to ensure they're aware.
Goulden-McLeod said symptoms of heat-related illnesses include headaches, nausea and dizziness.
The city said it would start up its 22 spray pads on Friday amid the heat instead of waiting until Monday as originally scheduled. However, the city then bumped the opening up to Wednesday, May 27.
"We are excited about it," Ivy Le said as she and her family enjoyed the shade of a tree near the vacant spray park at River Landing. Le said her one-and-a-half-year-old twins had been running through the fountains in K.W. Nasser Plaza earlier.
The spray pads will have extended hours until June 1 as part of the city's heat response plan.
Environment and Climate Change Canada issued a yellow warning about extreme temperatures in a large part of the province on Tuesday, with Saskatoon, Regina and Prince Albert seeing highs of 30 C.
The town of Coronach, about 160 kilometres southwest of Regina, was the hot spot at 32 C.
In Regina, construction foreman Darin Butt said he made sure his crew was ready to cope with working outside.
"We have cases of water bottles," he told CBC News. "We make sure the guys are well hydrated before they show up for work, night before, [or] morning of. By the time you get partway into the day, if you're dehydrated, you're already too late, you're behind."
The workers are used to dealing with weather on the job and they take cooling breaks when they need to, he said.
"We work all year round … in multiple provinces, so extreme cold, extreme heat is pretty common for us."
Preparation is important, he said.
"[We] dress properly. Obviously safety gear increases the risk of heat exhaustion, right? Because we can't be in shorts and things like that. So yeah, we just make sure, No. 1 is making sure guys get hydrated, good sleep, they've got electrolytes here if they need them."
Construction foreman Darin Butt is ready to face the heat. (Germain Wilson/CBC)
This time of year is also prime time for gardeners.
Rose Odling, who spoke with CBC at the community garden operated by the Cathedral Area Community Association in Regina, said the heat will be good for plant growth.
"We've just got to get here early, do our gardening and hope for a little bit of rain in between, and yeah, it'll be good," she said.
Yuliia Kukharenko, who left Ukraine last year for Saskatchewan, said the heat feels like a small piece of home.
"It's surprised me, but this climate reminds me [of] Crimea, yes, because Crimea [is] mostly also prairies. It's just south of Crimea is mountains, but most of it [is] prairies," she said.
Carmichael Outreach executive director Tyler Gelsinger said the effect of heat waves on vulnerable people increases demand for certain items, especially water.
Yuliia Kukharenko was at the Cathedral Area Community Association's community garden in Regina as the heat ramped up. (Germain Wilson/CBC)
"So people [are] requesting water bottles, water and all that kind of stuff during the hot season. Given that it's the first heat wave, I assume that we'll see a spike because people won't be used to it yet," he said.
The organization has an outdoor water fountain people can access when the outreach is closed, and the city also maintains some public fountains, he said.
"So typically when we do see heat waves, we see people who are dehydrated, heat stroke, sunstroke. So, you know, we encourage people to come inside or to go to cooler shade and all that."
Carmichael Outreach tries to educate clients about the symptoms of heatstroke and sunstroke, and has ice packs, cool towels and showers available for those who need them.
The City of Regina has also opened its public spray pads, which operate daily from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. CST until mid-September.
All locations are open, except Kinsmen Park South, which is undergoing upgrades and is expected to open later in the summer.
Starting Friday, the City of Saskatoon's spray pads operate daily from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. The spray pad at Ernest Lindner Park will be closed for the season due to a park upgrade, and Brighton Core Park and Thorton Park will have delayed openings due to repairs.
The story was originally written by Phil Tank, Randi LaRocque, and published for CBC News. It contains files from Laura Gillis.