Heat Wave Hasn’t Crested Many Escape To Water, While Seniors Hunker Down

First came the ice, now here’s the fire.

Inland Northwest weather has taken a sweltering turn, with temperatures pushing 100 degrees - 16 degrees above what’s normal for this time of year. And it will remain dashboard-cracking hot until Thursday or Friday, the National Weather Service reports.

Prolonged heat waves can land senior citizens in hospitals. But so far, medical centers haven’t reported any heat emergencies. And people seem to be managing at least halfhearted smiles over it.

It’s hot, sure. But at least the power’s still on.

“Every time I think I want to complain, I think of the ice storm,” said M.J. Harvey, flame-broiling in her station wagon at a north Spokane Burger King drive-through.

When thermometers top out, it can take awhile for health problems to show up, said Sacred Heart Medical Center spokesperson Marilyn Thordarson. “The heat seems to have a cumulative effect … and sometimes with the elderly, that’s a concern.”

By midafternoon, the temperature in Spokane was 98 at the airport, and according to the Weather Service it reached 100 downtown.

On city streets, it was all glaring chrome, gaping windows and the petroleum smell of baking asphalt. In neighborhoods, it was hissing sprinklers and humming fans.

In Coeur d’Alene, the cure seemed obvious: Hit the lake.

By Monday morning, people had already swarmed the sand. Lifeguard Chris MacQuarrie expected that by day’s end, he’d have more than 200 people at City Beach.

“We had like 120 on the beach, and 95 in the water” on Sunday, he said. Usually, it’s a respective 80 and 60 this time of year.

Shade was a commodity. As the sun moved across the sky, three women chased the shadow around MacQuarrie’s chair tower, hiding from iron-hot rays while their children swam.

“We moved from California to get out of the heat,” Susan Gibson griped. “If it gets above 85, I get ill.”

Her friend, Janne Nutter, was unfazed. “I was born and raised in Norway,” she said. “So this is very nice.”

Many who didn’t go out were calling for help. Telephones at Coeur d’Alene’s Parrott Mechanical rang all day with pleas for air conditioners.

“We’re actually so busy, we really don’t have time to talk,” said a woman answering there.

It’s those without air conditioning, especially seniors, who need looking after. At Mid-City Senior Center in Spokane, manager Deanne Houston has been warning patrons to mist themselves with spray bottles. Many don’t have fans and even if they have air conditioners, some can’t afford to use them.

Houston keeps tabs on everyone who uses the downtown center.

“They won’t say if they’re suffering in their apartment,” Houston said. “If we don’t see them in three days, we start calling hospitals.”

The American Red Cross encourages everyone to check on their neighbors. That’s just what Renee Kelm was doing each hour in her South Hill neighborhood. A man who lives next door is 99.

“He hasn’t been doing very well today,” Kelm said. Each hour, she moved his sprinklers outside and made sure the fan inside his house was aimed properly.

In her own home, she and her husband sat sandwiched between oscillating fans. When the temperature peaked, they planned to move outside - to their air-conditioned travel trailer.

For others, there was no hiding. Three men dug a trench for telephone line in downtown Spokane, waist-deep in First-and-Monroe asphalt. They were bent over with picks and shovels. Horns honked, exhaust reeked. Their white hard hats and orange vests sucked up the sun like solar panels.

Mike Brown looked up, face red and shiny with sweat.

“You could cook an egg on my forehead. Serious.”

He said the men drank a gallon of water each that morning.

How did they keep going?

“It ain’t the pay,” Brown said. The other guys grinned. “We just pace ourselves.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 Color Photos

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Beat the heat When it’s pushing 100, take it easy, the Red Cross warns: If you exercise or do other strenuous activities, do them from 4 to 7 a.m. That’s the coolest part of the day. Stay inside. If there’s no air conditioning, stay on the lowest floor and out of the sunshine. And remember electric fans just circulate the air, they don’t cool it. Open windows for cross-ventilation in the morning and evening. Keep shades drawn during the day. Wear lightweight, light-colored clothes. Drink lots of water. Not coffee, tea, sugar drinks, alcohol - and especially not beer. Although they may help at first, those drinks will only dehydrate you.