With temperatures expected to stay in the 30s into the BC Day long weekend, Paul Lalande may be the only person in the Tri-Cities still wearing a coat.
In fact, for the operations manager at Coquitlam’s Planet Ice, popping out into the hot afternoon sun is a welcome break from the rinks where he has been making ice all week.
“When it’s sweltering, it’s nice and refreshing,” said Lalande as he sprayed a fine mist of water onto the glistening white sheet, building it to an inch thickness over the course of seven days. “But after a couple of hours, you do get a little cold.”
Over at Meat Craft Urban Butchery in Port Moody, Greg McFeteridge is only too happy to duck into his 18 sq. ft. cooler — kept at a crisp 0 to 2 C to fetch cuts of meat.
“It’s nice to come in here,” McFeteridge said.
But not everyone is fortunate enough to work in an arena or have their own personal human-sized cooler in which to escape the heat wave.
Coquitlam RCMP Cpl. Michael McLaughlin said the 20 lbs. of equipment officers must wear makes working in the heat arduous — especially the Kevlar bulletproof vest.
“Of all the equipment we wear, the vest may be the most uncomfortable,” McLaughlin said. “It has zero breathability.”
According to RCMP dress regulations, officers can decide for themselves whether they wear a long or short-sleeved shirt but only Mounties in the bicycle section and the rural section are permitted to wear shorts.
“Each individual officer has to do what they can,” McLaughlin said. “We have the air conditioning turned up high in our cars.”
Firefighters from the Sasamat Volunteer Fire Department didn’t have that luxury when they fought a house fire in Belcarra Wednesday night. Fire Chief Jay Sharpe told The Tri-City News that battling blazes in the summer can be extremely uncomfortable for firefighters and that a lot of effort goes into keeping emergency officials cool in the heat.
Upon arrival, Sharpe said crews set up a rehab centre with lots of water and specialty chairs almost immediately. The chairs allow firefighters to sit down and rest when needed while they submerge their arms in ice-cold water.
“It is amazing how quickly it helps cool the body down,” Sharpe said.
Frozen treats and cooled resting places are also the order of the day at the Coquitlam Animal Shelter.
Manager Andrea McDonald said the shelter keeps a freezer filled with blankets, frozen food packets and chew toys, special doggy popsicles with a kibble treat buried inside the ice as well as frozen bottles of water. The latter can be packed into an animal’s kennel or underneath its bedding to help cool it.
The shelter also turns off the lights and turns on fans to keep the inside temperature down, and there’s a kiddie pool filled with water where the dogs can go for a quick, cooling dip.
McDonald said just like people, animals dial down their activity level when temperatures soar. The dogs are walked in wooded areas with plenty of shade and, ideally, a stream along the way where they can frolic for a few moments to cool off.
While animals loll about, many humans head to the movies, where a couple of hours in an air conditioned theatre offers relief from the heat or even thinking about the heat.
“It’s escapism, it takes your mind off the heat,” said Sarah Van Lange, the director of communications for the Cineplex theatre chain, noting theatres typically notice an uptick in attendance when temperatures soar.
And when the movie is over, more people are heading for a beer.
“Needless to say, the recent heat wave has helped beer sales,” said Vern Lambourne of Parkside Brewing in Port Moody.
Lighter beers sell especially well when it’s hot, he noted, adding, “We hedge our bets in that direction production-wise as the warmer months approach.”
One of those beers might even find its way into the hands of Paul Lalande. Because after a cold day making ice at Planet Ice, there’s nothing he enjoys more than sitting in his backyard with a cold beer. In the hot sun.
– with files from Gary Mckenna
