Don’t expect to find relief at the Sandman Centre or other indoor civic facilities at the height of the forthcoming heatwave, which is expected to hit 40 degrees by next week.

“During this activation, we’re not going to have an indoor cooling center,” noted the City of Kamloops’ Emergency Preparedness Manager Ty Helgeson as part of an interview with Radio NL on Wednesday.  “Here in Kamloops we’re proud to be Canada’s Tournament Capital. For this weekend that presents a challenge that our facilities are full.”

At the same time, Helgeson says a recent review of their heat protocols has determined the usefulness of opening places like arenas doesn’t necessarily work.

“We found that the centralized indoor cooling centers present challenges in terms of folks still getting back to their houses while they’re warm, so the effects of the cooling center not having those positive benefits. There’s challenges with transportation,” noted Helgeson.

“We would really like to, in the future, move towards more neighborhood-level cooling amenities,” suggested Helgeson.  “That might be smaller-scale indoor cooling centers. But that could also just mean building more livable spaces.”

For those who don’t have homes to stay inside, Helgeson does say CSO’s will be making the rounds to ensure water is distributed.

“They’ll be coordinating outreach efforts and some response, and working closely with the other outreach and support agencies in the community to ensure that we are touching base with those folks that are out there,” said Helgeson.

He notes parks and water parks are already open for people to find outdoor relief.

Helgeson is also recommending people take advantage of things like malls or other publicly-accessible indoor facilities to try to beat the heat.

During a week-long heatwave in the summer of 2022, close to 600 people took advantage of the Sandman Centre as a place to find some relief.

Heat protocols are activated in Kamloops when there’s 2 straight days of 35 degree or above temperatures, and overnight temperatures don’t dip below 18 degrees.