The heat dome that has caused an estimated 20,000 deaths in Europe and North America over the past few weeks has served as a stark reminder of the 619 lives claimed across B.C. during the province’s heat wave five years ago.
“It all happened so fast that it wasn’t until afterwards that we were trying to catch up … [and able to understand] who was most impacted by it,” said Jeannie Furmanek of B.C.’s deadliest weather event. Furmanek is the director of the adult day centres at the South Vancouver Neighbourhood House, but was a part of the organization’s Seniors Team at the time.
She said the heat dome served as a catalyst to find ways to mitigate climate-related impacts on the community, though much work still needs to be done.
Poorer neighbourhoods in the east and southeastern areas of the city were the hardest hit by high temperatures.
Seniors, in particular, were among the most impacted. According to the B.C. Coroner’s Death Panel Review, more than 67 per cent of those who died from the heat were over age 70.
The report also noted that those with preexisting conditions, such as hypertension and diabetes, and those with mood and anxiety disorders were highly represented amongst heat-related fatalities.
“It was just really, really tough heat. It was almost hard to breathe in,” said Furmanek. “[It was really] impactful for older adults living alone, especially those that are already quite vulnerable.”
Urban heat islands in Southeast and East Vancouver
Southeast Vancouver neighbourhoods like Killarney, Victoria-Fraserview and Sunset are on average some of the hottest regions of the city.
Limited public transit access and the hilliness of the area meant that for those with mobility issues, getting out of hot apartments and into neighbourhood cooling centres was challenging, if not impossible. The coroner’s report noted that nearly all of the heat-related fatalities occurred indoors.
Along with the City and the University of British Columbia, the South Vancouver Neighbourhood House has since worked on a number of preventative projects, including connecting with social housing in the area and distributing multilingual guides to help identify and prevent heat exhaustion.
“[In South Vancouver], we have a very diverse community,” said Furmanek, “We’ve heard from some people that because they come from hot countries they [think that] they don’t need to worry about the heat.”
South Vancouver is home to roughly 100,000 people, with the largest share of racialized residents (80 per cent) and immigrants (56 per cent) in the city.
South Vancouver also has higher rates of population growth among seniors than the rest of the city overall, with surrounding East Vancouver neighbourhoods like Renfrew-Collingwood, Kensington-Cedar Cottage, and Hastings Sunrise boasting the highest absolute numbers of seniors overall.
Until last year, the City of Vancouver also funded a “cool kit” program that included distributing totes containing supplies such as water bottles, ice packs, and indoor thermometers. Furmanek said the program was helpful and allowed the organization to connect with more people in the community.
“We were provided with hundreds of cool kits throughout the city that we were able to distribute and prioritize those older adults living alone without AC,” she said.
When asked why the cool kit program ended, the City told Vancity Lookout in a written statement that it has “assessed the most effective use of resources for heat mitigation” and will continue to “provide practical guidance on preparing for hot weather,” and focus on activating and promoting civic facilities as cool centres during heat events and improve access to water, misters and other cooling infrastructure.
Bigger structural improvements needed
While the South Vancouver Neighbourhood House has done its best to take a preventive approach, with future extreme heat events inevitably on the horizon, Furmanek said South Vancouver still needs larger structural changes to address the “urban heat island” effect.
“There is shade inequity and a lack of green spaces, as well as a lack of water infrastructure to keep the air cool,” she said. “These things take capital funding and a lot of planning, but as of today, we don’t have any promises for more of these infrastructural changes that would really help to curb this problem.”
During a recent heat dome anniversary press conference, this point was underscored by a number of speakers, including family physician Melissa Lem. “Lack of proximity to green space was an independent risk factor for death during the heat dome,” Lem said, adding that streets with low green space can be up to 10 degrees hotter than their well-canopied counterparts.
Areas like Marpole, southeast Vancouver neighbourhoods, and the Downtown Eastside have significantly fewer green spaces than more affluent neighbourhoods like Kerrisdale, Shaughnessy and West Point Grey.
“Whether someone lives or dies during a heat dome should not depend on their postal code,” Lem said, calling for new green space to be built into the infrastructure for all new housing, and underscoring the importance of provincial and nationwide interventions like the decreased reliance on fossil fuels and halting of planned LNG projects.
Over the last five years, the city has supported community-led projects like heat-preparedness workshops, peer check-in programs and increased access to water and shade. They have also introduced bylaws limiting landlords’ ability to deny tenants use of portable air conditioners.
When asked if the city had specific larger infrastructural projects planned to reduce heat in the South Vancouver neighbourhood, the city said that “opportunities to reduce heat are considered through parks, street improvements, public realm upgrades, facility renewal and development planning,” and that the city will “continue to look for ways to reduce heat exposure” longer term.
While the South Vancouver community waits for larger-scale climate issues interventions, Furmanek said it will continue to focus on “strengthening communities and building resiliency” at a “grassroots level.”
"But there’s only so much that we can do through prevention, so it’d be great to see those plans in the future to increase green spaces and recognize the impacts of climate change in general.”
