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THURSDAY, AUG. 16, 2012
www.nanaimobulletin.com
VOL. 24, NO. 47
Summer heats up region Heat and wind set up perfect conditions for beach, wildfires BY CHRIS BUSH
P: 250.585.1648 3392 Norwell Drive
Renovation plans for city hall gets OK from council BY TOBY GORMAN
THE NEWS BULLETIN
THE NEWS BULLETIN
Elevated temperatures and stiff breezes won’t spike the record charts, but will increase the danger for wildfire outbreaks. Temperatures in Nanaimo are predicted to hit highs of 30 C today and Friday (Aug. 16-17), but won’t come close to breaking past records. Trevor Smith, Environment Canada meteorologist, said the Aug. 15, 2010 record temperature of 33.1 C eclipsed Wednesday’s predicted high of 29 C. Predicted highs of 30 C for today and Friday also fall far short of the record 34.5 C set for those days in 1977. “On Vancouver Island you can get pretty big ranges from the water to inland, so Port Alberni’s going to be more like 33, 34,” Smith said. Outflow winds from the B.C. Interior Wednesday and today raised temperatures in the Fraser Valley and some Lower Mainland areas in the mid 30s, but all that hot air will be cooled somewhat by the Strait of Georgia before it hits the Island. What those winds will do, though, is dry out the landscape, raising wildfire danger ratings for most areas on the south B.C. coast. “It tends to be hotter weather when we have outflow winds,” said Marg Drysdale, Coastal Fire Centre spokeswoman. “So rapid drying of fine fuels is going to be happening overnight, so it’s going to dry very quickly over the next couple of days.” The Nanaimo area was still under a “high” fire danger rating as of Wednesday morning. Temperatures will cool over the weekend when there will be a 30-per cent chance of showers Saturday night through Sunday morning. ◆ See ‘POTENTIAL’ /4
CHRIS BUSH/THE NEWS BULLETIN
Tricia Reynes, lifeguard at Westwood Lake, returns to shore after checking on swimmers jumping off the far side of a swim float. The safety check was also an opportunity to take a break from the heat Tuesday. Temperatures are predicted to reach close 30 C tomorrow and Saturday (Aug. 17-18), combining with winds that will create dry conditions raising the risk for wildfire outbreaks.
Nanaimo city council gave city staff permission Monday to release a public tender for renovations to be started at city hall. With the city’s new annex nearing completion at 411 Dunsmuir St., the main city hall building at 455 Wallace St. will undergo renovations beginning in January to accommodate staff from the city manager’s office, human resources and payroll, all of whom were formerly housed in the old annex. Those renovations are expected to cost $800,000 and are part of the $15.7-million price tag of the new annex. The new tender is to complete work from a previously planned and separate renovation project that will see a $150,000 fire suppression system, alarms and smoke detectors added to city hall, as well as $130,000 to replace the existing oil-fired boiler. “That work was going to happen anyway,” said Brian Clemens, the city’s director of finance. “So we’re basically rolling all of the renovations into one. All of the work needs to be done at the same time.” Clemens said no new money was being added to either the total cost of the annex or the work to be done through the tender. As part of the renovations, a two-stop accessibility lift will be installed at city hall to make it easier for people with mobility issues to access the second floor. That $50,000 improvement will be funded through the federal government’s Enabling Accessibility Fund, and is scheduled to be completed by March 31, 2013 in order to meet deadline for the grant money. Money for the fire suppression safety work and new oil-fired boiler will be drawn from general revenue. reporter2@nanaimobulletin.com