Paramedics only responded to one heat related call in the area last week during a heat wave that opened cooling centres on two of those days in both Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows.
According to BC Emergency Health Services, they responded to a total of 15 heat-related patient events in the Fraser Health Authority between Aug. 16-21. Only one of those calls was in Pitt Meadows.
Cooling centres opened up in the community on Wednesday, Aug. 17, and Thursday Aug. 18, in anticipation of temperatures climbing above 30 C.
Although Environment Canada was missing the data for Aug. 17, on Aug. 18 the national agency recorded a high of 34 C.
Around 15-20 people accessed the cooling centre in Maple Ridge, reported deputy fire chief Stephan Drolet with the Maple Ridge Fire Department – that was opened up at the Greg Moore Youth Centre.
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However, people were also invited to use the Maple Ridge Public Library to get out of the heat.
The City of Pitt Meadows opened up four free indoor cooling centres during those two days.
However, the city did not monitor attendance numbers in all locations and so were unable to provide specific numbers of those who sought shelter during the heat, said Carolyn Baldridge, manager of communications and community engagement with the City of Pitt Meadows.
Yesterday the temperature hit 33 C and is expected to reach 26 C today, Thursday, Aug. 25.
On Friday, temperatures will be cooling off with an expectation of a high of 22 C with a 30 per cent chance of showers overnight Friday into Saturday.
The sun will be back again on Sunday with temperatures throughout the week between 22 C to 24 C.
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