Deaths as historic heat wave hits Western Canada

TRENTON, Canada – Western Canada is sweltering under record-high temperatures that may have killed scores of people in Vancouver, police reported Tuesday.

In the province of British Columbia (BC), the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) issued a plea for people “to check on loved ones and neighbors as the heat wave bringing record-breaking temperatures continues in Metro Vancouver.”

Since Monday, the RCMP has responded to 25 sudden death calls in the nearby town of Burnaby, a 14-km. drive from Vancouver.

While still under investigation, heat is believed to be a contributing factor in the majority of the deaths, police said. Many of the deceased were seniors more than 65 years old.

“Check on your neighbors, check on family members, check on seniors you may know,” Corporal Mike Kalanj of the Burnaby RCMP detachment said.

Environment Canada said 103 degrees Fahrenheit (39.4 degrees Celsius) all-time heat records across the BC, the neighboring province of Alberta, and the Yukon and North West Territories are under a “heat dome” that is creating unprecedented weather.

In the village of Lytton, about 260 km. northeast of Vancouver, the mercury hit 47.9 degrees Celsius, the hottest temperature ever recorded in Canada. It is hotter in Lytton and other areas than it is in Dubai.

Police in Vancouver said they have responded to at least 63 sudden death calls since the heat wave began Saturday.

Armel Castellon, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, said the situation is hard to describe.

“There’s really no hyperbole strong enough for this,” he told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. (CBC). “We are just flummoxed with how much these records are breaking. We know this is going to be a killer event.”

Castellon joined other meteorologists in blaming the extreme heat wave on climate change.

“We know this is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to heat events,” he told the CBC. “We needed to expect this and to expect more of it.”

Temperatures are not expected to drop until later in the week.