Vancouver approves homeless heat relief

Vancouver city council has unanimously voted to implement an extreme hot weather plan to help protect people during summer heat waves.

Under the plan approved at a council meeting Tuesday, the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority will send out bulletins when conditions reach dangerous levels. The conditions include heat, humidity, air pollution or a combination of them.

The plan focuses on aiding the city's most vulnerable people, according to Jennifer Standeven, the city's assistant director of business operations.

"[The plan will help] the people who are homeless, who have mental health issues, who have addictions, may have food security issues," said Standeven.

The city will also experiment with sending out a mobile water fountain that can connect to fire hydrants in Vancouver's poorest neighbourhoods.

Another aspect of the plan is to educate people about the dangers of extreme heat, especially in the sweltering, low-income rooming houses in the Downtown Eastside.

"[When] it is so hot, so dry, people don't leave the doors of their rooms open because they worry about who might come in," said Judy Graves, who co-ordinates the city's Tenant Assistance Program.

The plan was developed after the highly publicized death of a homeless man in an East Vancouver park last summer.

Curtis Brick, 46, died last July after he collapsed in Grandview Park during one of the hottest days on record.

Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, has been calling for a coroner's inquest into Brick's death, and he's encouraged to see the city taking action. "I think it's definitely a step in the right direction," said Phillip.